Firsts
by starah
Summary: Set after the manga finale: Seiji and Midori experience their first of many things as they try to cope with certain issues that have cropped up since Midori left Seiji's hand, and some old enemies just haven't let Seiji go.
1. Chapter One: Seiji's Weakness

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter One: Seiji's Weakness**

* * *

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Sawamura - the Mad Dog - has gotten AMBIDEXTROUSLY devil-handed!"

"Whaaaat? His right hand was quite enough to be getting on with, but now he's WHAT?"

"Damn it! Now it doesn't matter which direction we attack him in."

"Uh, I'm not sure it ever did..."

"SHUT UP! Listen up boys, we are going to take Sawamura DOWN. That jackass has disgraced the name of Shin Sakura High multiple times, but now he has gone too far! He punched in Kazenawa-senpai's nose the other day."

"I thought that senpai won a gold medal in the Karate competition last year."

"He did."

"Wow. The Mad Dog really is crazy."

"Don't sound impressed!"

"How do we take him down, Norobi-san?"

"Send out our first years! We'll find out a weak spot, I'm sure of it! And when we find out what we can use against him, WE'LL CRUSH HIM LIKE A BUG!"

* * *

"AH-CHOO!"

Seiji sniffled, blinking.

'Funny... is it 'cause the weather's getting colder?'

He glanced out the window, where the morning snow lay glittering on the school-grounds. A small sigh escaped him as he forced himself back to advanced differentiation.

'I can't lose concentration,' He told himself forcefully, 'Not after all Midori did...'

The memory of her studying at his house came to his mind; she looked at him with a slight frown as she said a bit reprimandingly, "You aren't going to slack off this year, are you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well," She said hesitantly, "you're not studying."

He'd looked up from his manga, raising a brow. "Must I? I know I'm going to fail half the exams anyway, even if I do try-"

"NO!" Midori had shouted, so suddenly he'd fallen over onto his side from shock, "You can't give up now, not this close to the mid-term exams! Seiji-kun, please, you mustn't!"

"Hey, what more can you expect from a delinquent?" He replied incredulously, when he felt a jolt in his heart as her eyes filled up with tears. She whispered,

"You're much more than just a delinquent, Seiji-kun..."

'I can't let someone who believes in me that much down, huh?' He tried to set his mind back on track, but it was difficult now that Midori was in his thoughts.

Midori.

He could remember, in painfully clear detail, how she had left his hand; how she'd given him the most cheerful smile while tears streamed from her eyes... and then how she'd returned to him in full form.

Sometimes, he didn't know how to take it. By being his right hand they'd been intimately close, and the Midori on his hand had been very different to the real Midori in person. The Midori on his hand had been loud, confident, spontaneous and at times outright silly. The real Midori was terribly shy, quiet, sweet and somewhat reserved.

He knew he'd fallen in love with the girl on his hand, so after he'd accepted her confession, doubts had started creeping into his mind. He'd thought that maybe he was only deluding himself with an illusion of the old Midori by dating the quiet girl. She'd never fulfill his old expectations...

Once they'd started walking home together, however, Seiji had come to realise that the quiet Midori had the loud one inside her - and occasionally Seiji would draw that side of her out. To his surprise, her diminished straight-forwardness did not cause his feelings for her to waver. It actually helped him pace his thoughts and feelings - it gave him time.

Seiji had grown to love the boisterous Midori on his hand, but he found all the best elements in her - her honesty, sharp intuition, sweet smiles - in the real Midori, and with Seiji being able to bring the more confident side of her out, Seiji found himself falling in love with her all over again.

It was bizarre to see her so big now, but Seiji thought that this was the way it was meant to be.

Recreating memories was still a little tough, but being able to see her smile and sit across him at an ice-cream parlour was worth it all. It just felt a little... well, empty without her on his hand now.

Not that he wasn't doing anything to fix that; he'd given Midori a copy of his house key and told her to pop in anytime she liked, if just for the sake of- er, being there. He'd skipped out the 'for him' bit on that, but she seemed to get the message; she'd blushed deeply as him and told him, "Only when you want me to."

He hadn't had the guts to say "I want you to always be there. Maybe even sleep over, next to me if you like." But then again, that sounded terribly wrong, so he wasn't too keen on letting on his wistful, lonely side yet.

They'd been together for several weeks by now, and the most daring thing they'd done was study together at his house and... hold hands...

Yes, he could remember holding her hand for the first time - it had only been two days ago. It had been amazingly weird; the Midori on his hand had had little palms barely able to cover his fingertips, but the real Midori had hands that were much larger, yet... they seemed just as small when he clutched it.

He had always wanted to hold her hand since the colder weather settled in, as he saw her rubbing her gloved hands together and blowing at it fruitlessly. She'd try to hide the chatter in her teeth and say with a shivering smile, "I'm fine, Seiji-kun" just like she'd done when she'd been on his hand- and like then and now, she hadn't really meant it.

'Maybe girls get cold all the time 'cause they're small,' he mused, 'or maybe it's just Midori since she's sort of small... er, not as small as she was before, but definitely smaller than me anyway...' By any rate, he'd decided to take the initiative and grab her hand - but he'd never been able to accomplish it. He'd start lunging at her hand with his, but when her eyes flittered to him he'd grow bright red and pretend to be swinging that hand up to scratch at his temple or something.

In the end, he'd-

"SAWAMURA!"

He blinked rapidly, snapping his head up to see his Mathematics teacher and all the students looking at him.

"Page 217, question 7b," Ayase muttered under her breath.

"Thanks," Seiji mumbled back, flicking over a page and standing up with the textbook. 'I am so screwed.' He thought inwardly as he walked slowly to the blackboard, and it was with some trepidation he picked up a piece of chalk and let his eyes run over the question.

Midori's neat writing covered the side of the question, and it was with a pang Seiji remembered he'd gone through a couple of these questions with her in advance. By the time he'd set the chalk down, the class and the teacher were staring.

"That is correct, Sawamura," The teacher said finally, "well done."

Seiji noticed they weren't gaping in shock, or narrowing eyes in suspicion. Some looked impressed, some looked surprised, but they all seemed to accept him.

As he sat back at his seat, he let out a soft sigh of relief. 'You're my saviour, Midori,' He thought, and couldn't stop the blush creeping up his neck as he thought of her.

* * *

Midori waited beside the park gates, as usual. She shuffled around a bit, trying to keep herself warm in the cooler weather. As she rubbed her hands together, she flushed a little, remembering...

She could still enter states of disbelief and shock when she recalled Seiji confessing right back to her. She had imagined before her confession just what the outcome of the confession would be. In the worst-case scenarios, he'd tell her he didn't give a jot about girls he didn't know, or say something cruel like 'You're too ugly and uninteresting for me'. And in the daring chance she'd let herself consider him actually accepting her confession, he'd still be saying something like 'uh... thanks... er, what was your name again?'

She hadn't even considered the idea he'd actually know her... let alone like her. Midori always felt like sobbing hysterically when she remembered his blushing confession, and his sweet smile straight after; it was almost to much to believe that this was actually real, and that he really did like the boring, shy her.

And two days ago... she felt a smile tug at her lips as she remembered her taking off her gloves and setting it carefully on the bench next to her before tying up her shoelaces. Seiji emerged next to her, saying a bit too squeakily, "Let's go!"

"Sure, Seiji-kun- oh, no!" She'd looked at the empty space next to her in dismay, "I think I lost my gloves!"

"Oh. Well, that's too bad, isn't it? Let's get going, it's freezing out here."

"Oh, but-" Midori hesitated as she'd glanced at her trembling fingers, already numb from the whipping cold wind, "...oh, alright."

She had stood up and glanced at Seiji, who was determinedly not looking at her but was sticking his bare hand before her face. When she looked at him confusedly, he'd said very quickly, still looking every place but her eyes, "Come on, your hand will freeze to death."

Midori had blushed to her roots before slipping her hand into his. His hand was like a furnace, and she found her fingers clasped very snugly in his. She could remembering grinning like an idiot every now and then along the walk, her heart thudding loudly at the sensation of his warm hand carefully holding hers; but it had been much harder to suppress her giddiness when she spotted her gloves sticking out the side of his bag.

He'd returned it to her yesterday, claiming he'd found them, and it had taken all her wits to not laugh out loud in delight at his clumsy sweetness. Seiji was sweeter than she'd imagined, even in her silly fantasies.

She loved him.

And yet... she was worried. There was something about her that Seiji seemed to desire badly, but hadn't asked about. He'd given her a copy of his house key, but she hadn't had the courage to actually go. She had a feeling that the key had something to do with this unspoken wish of Seiji's, except she just didn't know what. She doubted he really wanted her to come in and clean his house for him, or go and do 'unmentionable things' in the middle of the night - so she wasn't sure exactly what his intentions were.

She wanted to know badly but she knew asking directly was not the way about it. She'd wait for him to tell him...

Midori suddenly heard a noise nearby - a loud click of something mechanical. She looked around in surprise, wondering what it had been, but was unable to see anything out of the norm. She was frowning when she heard a voice behind her say, "How long did you wait?"

Midori spun around to see Seiji standing there, and she felt the involuntary smile of happiness blossom as she said happily, "Not long."

"I got out of my extra lesson early 'cause I solved a hard question during class," Seiji said, shaking his head, "and you're still here earlier than me? Midori, you shouldn't wait for me so long in the cold!"

"Oh, but I don't want to make you wait," Midori said brightly, and Seiji sighed exasperatedly as he held out his hand.

"Come on then," He said, his voice irritable but his blush betraying him, and he gave a start when Midori grabbed the edge of his glove and tugged it off. "Wha-" He was cut off as she slid the glove off her left hand and then took his bared right hand in hers. "Oh." He said dumbly. Then he turned quickly so she couldn't see the immense flush that had filled his face.

Midori in turn was glad he wasn't looking at her. She thought she might die in shock at her own audacity, if she didn't die from the blood pressure in her cheeks. "Seiji-kun, do- do you want to drink some hot chocolate?" She managed to stutter.

"Hell yeah, that sounds great!" Seiji said enthusiastically, and tugging at her hand gently they began to walk out of the park.

The loud click sounded again unbeknownst to the two, and the first-years of Shin Sakura High School watched the greenish tones gradually reveal Sawamura, the Mad Dog, holding hands with that new girlfriend of his. They grinned.

* * *

Seiji went to the park gates the next day to find that Midori wasn't there.

"Huh? Midori?"

He walked over to her usual bench, winds rustling his clothes and coolly carressing his neck, when he noticed a piece of paper ruffling in the breeze that was attached to the bench with a knife. Pulling the knife out, Seiji brought the paper to his eyes. It said:

_NOROBI UBE OF SHIN SAKURA HIGH CHALLENGES THE MAD DOG 6 PM AT ABANDONED PETROL STATION, SHINTAKA STREET_

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes; he was sick of these sort of dumbass challenges. He flipped the attached photo behind the note to the front, wondering where Midori was as he did so; then he thought his heart would stop as a terrible shock seeped through him.

The photo depicted an unconcious Midori tied up and crumpled on the ground.

For a moment, Seiji was so overcome with rage he couldn't say a word. He punched the bench and dented its steel frame, kicked a cement block that lined the flowerbed out of place, then threw the bench at a lamp-post. He barely managed to pull out the crumpled note and photo out of his tightly clenched fist (it refused to loosen) before checking the time and location once more. He then threw the tightly twisted papers onto the ground with all the force he could muster before checking his watch.

He had a quarter of an hour to get there. His mind grimly set, Seiji spun on his heel and ran out of the park at full speed.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author Notes: Another update, to fix the format AGAIN. (sigh)


	2. Chapter Two: Muzzled

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Two: Muzzled**

* * *

When Midori came to from her sudden knock out at the park, she found herself gagged and tied up, lying on dry grass. Several Shin Sakura students were crowded near her, talking and looking at her.

"Man, it's not fair. I'm way better looking than Sawamura and I bet I get better grades than him."

"Yeah, same! Who'd have known Sawamura would be dating such a cutie?"

"A studious, demure looking one at that."

"Maybe she's not what she seems, and she actually gets it on pretty well."

They laughed at that, and Midori let out a very indignant noise behind her gag. To her surprise, one of them reached over to pull out the gag, and as she gasped for deep breath he said, "Go on, then, what is it?"

"What do you want from Seiji-kun?" She demanded, and the boys laughed. From them, however, there was a groan.

"I was hoping she wanted to say 'I'm better than just pretty well'." Their laughter was almost hysterical, and Midori felt a low twist in her stomach. She tried to get up, and barely managed to get onto her knees; then she tried to get away from them. She felt her knees bruise as she stumbled on a ledge of concrete, but once she was on the concrete entirely she shuffled across as fast she could, taking in a deep breath to scream- then the breath was exhaled in a sharp puff when she saw the abandoned petrol station looming before her, realising there was no point screaming for help.

She kept trying to move, however, but could barely go several paces without falling onto her side. Midori kept picking herself up regardless, and continued moving on. But when she thought it was weird no one had tried stopping her yet, she craned her neck around to see them looking at her amusedly and smirking. "Go on, keep going," said one of them with mock-encouragement, "it's very entertaining. Nice show every time you flop over, by the way, thanks."

They roared with laughter as Midori felt a dull flush fill her face; she hadn't realised her skirt had hitched up like that. A deep sense of disgust filled her as she thought, 'I didn't think Shin Sakura students were as repulsive as I'd heard, but now I know they're... worse than that.'

A voice above her boomed, "Stop playing with our bait and go get ready to greet the Mad Dog, you fools, it's nearly time!"

"Yes, Norobi-san!" The students hurriedly picked themselves up and pelted away. Midori looked up from the ground to see a large Shin Sakura student with hairy eyebrows and a large, speckled nose, presumably Norobi. A loud roar suddenly cut the air, sounding remarkably like Seiji on a rampage, before a chorus of yells and cries began to fill the surroundings.

"Don't worry," Norobi leered into her face, so close she could smell his sour breath, "your boyfriend will come over to save you any minute now."

Midori felt hot anger surge from within, filling her so that when her next words were uttered, there was a deadly tone to it. "When will you leave Seiji-kun alone?"

"He's the one who's disgraced our school one too many times," Snarled Norobi, and Midori shouted back hotly,

"Seiji-kun's not the one who did that, you foul people did that yourselves!"

A hand pushed her down roughly, throwing her onto her back; she looked up to see Norobi and three others staring down at her with ugly looks on their faces.

"Say that again," Hissed the tallest one. Midori felt her courage ebb away a little, but at the memory of Seiji it came back full-force as she said slowly and deliberately,

"You people are FOUL."

There was a silence punctuated only by the hollering from the fighting. Then a twisted smile curled their lips.

"Give me the knife." Midori didn't dare blink or look away from Norobi's glare; he took the knife and pressed its cold blade against the skin of her stomach. She gripped her ropes tightly to keep from trembling. "I think we should teach the little lady here about a woman's... place."

The others cheered as Midori continued to glare at Norobi; she didn't move an inch as the knife slowly cut through her uniform shirt, feeling sweat trickle past her brow despite the cold air. She did not want to give them the satisfaction of a struggle. But when Norobi made a grab at her bare skin below, she finally let out a short shriek that one of the students hastily stifled with the gag, choking her- then-

Footsteps. The Shin Sakura students stopped their movements to turn around and face the new entrant; then Norobi's voice came sickeningly pleasant: "Enjoyed our taster?"

* * *

With each pounding footstep, Seiji's thoughts ran rapidly through his head, his eyes barely seeing what was in front of him as he tore through the streets towards the abandoned petrol station.

He'd known, from the start, that people who hung around him got into a lot of trouble because of the enemies he'd accumulated over the years from fighting. Miyahara and Kouta were just two examples; generally people who were even slightly associated with him could be targeted as bait. That was why no one had come near him, not until this year...

He tried to remember what he'd done the few times his friends had been taken. Seiji had let himself be beaten up on the occasion of Miyahara, but he wasn't sure if that would work this time - Shin Sakura was full of very sick, twisted bastards, and he knew the knife holding the note down had only been one of the many knives most of them yielded. He could dodge them easily, but with Midori in their hands...

There was a nasty squeeze to his heart at just the thought of what she'd just gone through. They'd knocked her unconcious and tied her up. He thought his head might explode at the thought of the things they might be doing to her while she was out - oh, he was going to kick their skulls in if they did anything like that to her, anything...

Finally, he reached the end of the long stretch of grass to see the half-built petrol station left abandoned from the cancelled road plan. And on the large square of smooth concrete stood nearly twenty students of Sakura Shin High, their sleeves rolled up and their hands clutching chains, swiss-army knives and baseball bats.

Seiji conjured the scariest glare he could make and cast it amongst the crowd as he approached slowly. A few of the younger years exchanged nervous glances. For a moment, there was a silence; then, without warning, Seiji let out a mighty roar of anger before ramming his fist into the closest student's face. A clamour of indignant cries rose up, and they charged.

Within seconds, he was engaged in heavy pummeling; he felt the sting of a blade nick his shoulder-blade and sent a spin-kick aimed at the offendor's general direction, feeling a satisfying crunch as he did so, then ducked a baseball bat before swiping it out of the person's grip and chucking it into another student's gut.

It went on until finally, with Seiji sporting a bloody nose and a couple of dripping thin lines that had been sliced into him, the Shin Sakura High students were sprawled on the ground, either plainly knocked-out or pretending to be from fear. Seiji bent down, dragged up a second-year and barked into his face, "Where's Norobi?"

The second year said tremulously, "Behind th-the mart." He was unceremoniously thrown back onto the ground as Seiji let out a frightening growl. He stormed towards the half-finished mart and around it to reach where the cement hadn't been finished being poured over the grass. The setting sun cast long shadows of the grass framing the slab of concrete Seiji stomped onto. He narrowed his eyes the moment he saw four Shin Sakura students waiting for him.

"Enjoyed our taster?" The ugliest one drawled, and Seiji snapped,

"Which one of you is Norobi?"

"That's Norobi-sama to you, Mad Dog," The ugly one snarled, growing even uglier as he said it and causing Seiji to wince.

"Where's Midori?" Seiji demanded, and the tallest one - he recognised him as the karate doofus who'd tried to challenge him last week but instead fell on his face - pulled her out from amidst them. Seiji thought he might spontaneously combust the moment he saw her. Her eyes were half-lidded, bruises were purpling on her temple and her knees, but worst of all was how ripped her uniform shirt was looking... there was a cloth gag stuffed crudely into her mouth, which she was evidently half-choking on.

The fact that Midori was no longer a literal part of him as his right hand - the fact that Midori was not small enough to fit snugly into the crook of his elbow, or small enough to simply pull a sleeve over to hide - suddenly hit Seiji hard. Protecting her was an entirely different matter now. To protect her he needed to do much more than just tuck her in his pocket, or behind his back.

And seeing her now, struggling to look at him properly, Midori suddenly seemed far more real and fragile to Seiji.

Norobi chortled, "She's pretty cute, Sawamura. We couldn't resist." Something in Seiji snapped.

"You piece of TRASH!" He yelled, running towards them, when karate champ shouted,

"STOP!" Seiji only did when he saw that one of them had his arm around Midori's throat. Letting out a scary growl, Seiji looked up at them furiously.

"Careful, or this hand might slip. Then her pretty little face might get mutilated beyond recognition," The one clutching Midori warned, and the weak sunlight caught on the knife blade held against her cheek. Seiji thought the rush of blood ot his head might start streaming out of his ears.

'Keep it cool, Seiji, or she might get really hurt,' he told himself before taking a deep breath and slackening his posture. "What do you want?"

"I don't know... why don't we start with... you barking like the Mad Dog you are?"

Seiji stared. "What?"

"Get on your hands and knees and yap," Norobi sneered, "and lick my shoes while you're at it. Then maybe we'll think about your girlfriend."

Seiji curled his fists very tightly to stop them from trembling - his rage was phenomenal - but he cast a look at Midori. She was looking at him, her blue eyes filled with tears... with fear. Seiji grit his teeth and sank to his knees.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author Notes: Reformatting issues. Blarghledsfkhakdlfk.


	3. Chapter Three: One Hurdle

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Three: One Hurdle**

* * *

'No, Seiji-kun!' Midori thought, her heart pounding painfully as she watched Seiji's submission for her sake, 'Oh please Seiji-kun, don't do that!'

The Shin Sakura High students began hooting in malicious delight.

"Go on, doggy!" Jeered Norobi as Seiji pressed his hands to the concrete. She could see Seiji's teeth gnashed together as he growled out,

"Woof."

"What was that?"

"I said," He said through clenched teeth, "WOOF."

Midori let out a choked cry when Norobi suddenly kicked Seiji down, laughing. "You can do better than that, can't you? Poor Mad Dog. Alright then, just lick my shoes and we'll let you off."

As Seiji slowly got back onto his knees and hands, sucking blood off his lower lip, Midori wanted more than anything to stop this. She wanted to grab Seiji and pull him back up, tell him desperately she wasn't worth this. Nothing was worth the twisted pleasure of these pathetic people, who derived such pleasure from someone else's downfall. Midori felt her heart throb as Seiji lowered his head, close to Norobi's shoes, his eyes shielded from her view. She caught a glimpse of the red of his tongue ...

Midori suddenly realised that every hateful face of the Shin Sakura students were gleefully concentrated on the humiliation of Sawamura Seiji and completely ignoring her. The cold blade of the knife had drifted from her neck, but her captor hadn't noticed.

She didn't waste any time. She threw her head back as hard as she could, her hair muffling the startled cry behind her; the knife clattered to the concrete as she shoved all her weight against the captor. Seeing this as his chance, Seiji rammed himself against Norobi's legs; caught off guard, Norobi swung his arms like a windmill, yelping as the others charged at Seiji. He punched them both squarely in the face with both hands, stopping them in their tracks, before walking over to the student that had been holding Midori with the knife.

"Stunned but still conscious..." Seiji muttered, "Let me take care of that." The student let out a frightened squeal before being thrown towards the two crumpled figures Seiji had punched down - their skulls collided and the student slumped against them.

Norobi had long recovered and lunged at him, hollering, to which Seiji responded by catching him in mid-air with a foot to his gut. Norobi crumpled to the floor.

Midori instinctively looked up at Seiji, who knelt down immediately beside her and pulled the cloth out of her mouth, first. She tried to catch her breath as Seiji proceeded to use the knife to cut the rest of her ropes around her wrists. She noticed he was pointedly avoiding her eyes, even when he shrugged off his jacket and threw it around her. She gripped it, taking a steadying breath before speaking.

"Seiji-kun, I-I'm so sorry," She whispered, and Seiji's eyes locked with hers as he stared at her incredulously.

"You're WHAT?"

"I'm sorry," She said, more strongly, "I got caught- and you- you got so hurt-"

"You IDIOT!" Seiji yelled, startling Midori, "How the HELL can you say something like that? Are you DAFT? It's my fault you're hurt! It's nothing on me, I always get a new bruise every day, but Midori, you- you were nearly-" He cut himself off there, apparently unable to make himself say it.

"But you didn't let that happen," Midori whispered, "so..."

There was a long silence, during which Seiji only looked at the ground, so Midori couldn't see his eyes. He continued to look down, and Midori noticed a steady trickle of blood from a cut below his left ear. She undid her school uniform tie, folded it and lifted it to his face, intending to mop it up a bit, but he caught her hand midway in his and gripped it crushingly. He raised his head only slightly.

"I'm the one who's sorry."

Midori felt her eyes widen as she saw him squeezing his eyes shut as he continued in a slightly broken tone, "I'm sorry. I... I was supposed to protect you... but I was an idiot, I didn't consider what that really... needed... I'm such an idiot, Midori. I'm so sorry..." She felt her heart swell at those words, and she took her other hand to press against the side of his face, murmuring,

"Don't say that... after we began to go out, I- I knew we'd... have this kind of assault... at one point. It doesn't matter... it's over."

"You were scared," He said suddenly, his eyes flicking open to look at her seriously, "you were really-"

"Seiji-kun, I wasn't scared for myself... I was scared for you," Midori said quietly, "I was scared you'd get hurt because of me." He blinked in surprise, then bit his lip.

"When I... saw you caught like that, I was practically pissing my pants. Seriously. I thought you might... I felt like screaming." He looked almost embarrassed at his words, but Midori only smiled, pressing her hand more closely to Seiji's face.

"When I saw you listening to that - that horrible person's orders, Seiji-kun, I really wanted to scream too. I'm not- I'm not worth that sort of-"

"Don't say that!" Seiji practically yelled, "You're worth MUCH more than a little of my pride! I'd do far worse for you!"

Midori blushed deeply as she looked at him, speechless. It took a couple of seconds for the impact of his own words to kick in and Seiji flushed suddenly too. When Midori found her voice, she stammered, "I think you're worth any- any trouble your re-reputation might cause. No, you're- you mean more to me than- than anything."

Seiji flushed a deeper red.

Then he suddenly stood up. "Come on, Midori," He said, and she confusedly stood up after him. He reached down to grab Norobi by the front of his uniform, giving him a rather evil look as he said in a low growl, "I know you're awake, Norobi."

Norobi let out a pathetic whimper.

"Good. Now it's time to return the favour, I would say." Seiji looked over at Midori, raising an eyebrow as he said casually, "Ne, Midori, what do you think we do make him and his lackeys do?"

Midori found it hard to suppress a smile at Seiji's casual act as she said thoughtfully, "I'm not sure, Seiji-kun..."

"Oh, wait, I have an idea," Seiji said brightly, "How about we ruin all their uniforms, since they ruined yours?"

Only Seiji would come up with an idea that wasn't excessively cruel, but certainly taught the lesson needed. She pulled the jacket tighter around her as she said resolutely, "Yes, that sounds fitting."

"Great," Seiji said, his dark grin taking over his face before he literally tore the uniform off Norobi. Norobi crashed to the concrete in his white vest with a cry of surprise, shivering from the cold, as Seiji ordered, "Midori, hand me that knife."

Midori scooped it up from next to her shoe before passing it to Seiji. He took it, and with an evil smirk, said lightly, "Revenge is dish best served..." he pointed the knife blade to the shivering Norobi, who sneezed as he continued, "...cold."

Midori groaned, though she was smiling.

* * *

"Is it all right to leave them like that?"

Seiji let out a long sigh. "Midori, of COURSE it is. Think about all they've done."

"Well... all right." Midori's dubious expression vanished to a decisive one as she surveyed the pile of ruined Shin Sakura uniform shirts, ripped to pieces; the students on the floor were still unawake, though they were curling up from the cold, shivering in their thin white vests. Norobi had assisted in ripping up the uniforms when Midori asked him to help, thought it was probably only because Seiji had been holding the knife in a very dangerous way to him.

"Let's go then." Seiji took Midori's hand and began to walk, when Midori stumbled and tripped, jerking Seiji back momentarily; he looked at her, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Uhm," Midori mumbled, sitting herself up and blushing, "It's my knees."

"Are they broken?"

"No, no, they're just- well, they've always been kind of... weak. And they're bruised now, so... er..."

Seiji bent down, back facing her as he said, "Well, hop on, then."

"No, it's okay!" Midori exclaimed, getting up hurriedly, "I can walk fi-" She was cut off as she fell over, narrowly missing another bruise because Seiji managed to catch her this time. She embarrassedly steadied herself in his arms.

"You dumbass," Seiji said, rolling his eyes, "come on."

Face burning, Midori curled her arms around his neck, and she felt his strong arms grip below her knees before standing up. She could feel her heart thumping loudly against Seiji's back, and she swallowed before daring to gently lean her cheek against his shoulder.

"Holding tight?" Seiji asked.

"Yes," She said softly, her breath tickling his ear, and he began to walk at a relatively slow pace.

The weight of Midori against his back was warm and comforting. When she had been on his hand, she'd been able to curl up in a pocket, but on his back he felt the sense of holding her up with his strength as a powerful sensation of responsibility and strength - she needed him...

He didn't really want this to end, at least, not for a while. After they'd been walking for around ten minutes, just when he thought she was being remarkably silent, she slumped suddenly and he realised she'd fallen asleep. Somewhat pleased she'd been that comfortable, Seiji turned his face towards her, unable to stop a pleasant flush in his cheeks at the sight of her sleeping soundly.

He was surprised to find she'd pressed her uniform tie against the cut below his ear; he hadn't noticed it at all. He gently tugged it from her grasp and cringed at the bloody mess of it. 'I guess I'll have to return this after I've washed it,' Seiji thought, hastily shoving it into his pocket before walking on.

They reached her mansion gates perhaps a bit later than expected, because Seiji had been walking so slowly. He was about to ring the doorbell, when he paused.

He quickly looked around. Nope, no one in vicinity.

Carefully ensuring she would stay on when he did this, he leaned his face towards her slowly. She looked so damn sweet, just sleeping on him like this... her eyelashes brushed against his cheek as he turned towards her, her lips pink and slightly parted. He moved his head towards her, ever so slowly, his heart thudding madly in his chest as he let his eyes fall shut.

His lips hovered just before hers, her warm breath mingling with his... he could feel the heat radiating off him in waves... closer still, he moved... then...

Seiji lost his nerve. He diverted his direction and pecked her on the cheek instead, and turned his head back quickly before casting her a nervous glance. She stirred, her lips curling into a smile.

"Seiji-kun..." She mumbled sleepily in a happy tone. He froze, then realised she was only sleep-talking. Then, flushing darker as his action drove home, he hurriedly rang the bell with his head and waited for Midori's mother's voice to sound through the intercom.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author Notes: Lalala reformatting lalala


	4. Chapter Four: Cracks

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Four: Cracks**

* * *

Seiji let out a small groan as he got home. "I'm home," He called out, purely out of habit. As he passed by the kitchen he glanced at his ever-growing stack of dishes he had to do. He contemplated working on it for maybe two seconds before deciding to leave it 'till tomorrow.

The memory of little Midori working hard to wash up the dishes came unbidden to his mind, but he shook it quickly out of his head. He threw his schoolbag next his bed before collapsing on it. The moment he did, however, his wounds smarted sharply.

"Ugh." Seiji didn't want to move; after taking Midori home, he'd had to run over to the park and get his stupid schoolbag, and now he was just plain tired. But he knew from past experiences that leaving open cuts without properly treating them usually led to some pretty gross pus accumulation, not to mention the occasional infection, so he forced himself to flop onto the floor. Pulling out a first-aid kit from under the bed, he remembered how the Midori on his hand had worriedly dabbed at his wounds with cotton soaked in alcohol, tending carefully and soothingly...

He again pushed that thought out of his head, tended to his cuts, then just as he tried to get onto his bed again his stomach rumbled and he realised he hadn't had dinner. He tiredly sauntered over to the kitchen. The sounds of the pot clanging as he made instant noodles seemed much louder in the silence. And again, Midori came to mind, chattering excitedly at his right...

'I have to stop thinking about that,' Seiji thought firmly, but now he'd thought that there was no way around it - he had to face it now.

Before he'd known who Midori was, Seiji hadn't had any companion at home other than the sporadic visits of his maniacal sister. He hadn't minded being alone, but because he'd had Midori before, he now knew what he was missing. And these days, when he got home, he could sense an unbearable loneliness that threatened to overwhelm him.

But even if his sister were at home with him, Seiji knew that wasn't exactly what he wanted.

No, Seiji wanted... Midori. And if she couldn't be his hand again, Seiji knew he really just wanted her to... be there. When he finally crashed into bed that night, he could feel a solemn emptiness in the room. And Seiji wished at that moment, more than anything, that Midori would swallow reason and just come over and sleep next to him, and make him feel whole again...

* * *

"Midori, can we talk?"

Midori looked up from her schoolbag to see her mother standing by her bedroom door. "Of course," She said, and her mother walked in and settled on Midori's bed, taking her hands and having Midori sit next to her.

"Look, darling... do you know how you got home last night?"

"Oh, Makie-san told me Seiji-kun took me home." Her mother sighed at her blush and shy smile as she said it.

"You have bruises all over your legs, Midori... please, tell me honestly, what happened last night?"

Midori bit her lip. She didn't say a word. How on earth could she? Her mother would demand her to cut all ties with Seiji immediately if she knew the kind of trouble Seiji attracted, other than bad grades. Her mother looked at her closely, then shook her head sadly.

"I know you care for Seiji-kun a lot, Midori," she said quietly, "but I want you to know that as your mother, I am incredibly worried about you."

"He takes care of me," Midori said quietly, and her mother pursed her lips. There was a tense silence before her mother rose and said,

"Well then. I'll have you know that if you get harmed in any way from Seiji-kun's influence, I will personally make sure you do not date him ever again."

The door swung shut behind her mother with a sharp snap. Midori closed her eyes, letting out a soft sigh. She loved her mother, she really did, but her over-protectiveness was slowly causing a rift between them in the matter of Seiji.

But of course, her mother's words did have an element of truth in it. Being with Seiji was, inevitably, going to harm Midori if she was careless again. Midori had wondered, countless times, whether she minded Seiji's violent streak - but she had accepted it as an inseparable part of him already, plus she didn't mind it at all. It was the other violent people she had to be worried about, really...

'But I'll be careful, so that doesn't happen again,' Midori thought, and standing up determinedly she picked up her schoolbag and dashed towards the door.

* * *

Seiji yawned widely, sleepily trudging through the school corridor. He hadn't been able to fall asleep until dawn had begun to approach, and with only two hours clocked in he knew he was looking at a very weary day. Standing before the sliding door, he set his hand on the groove - then heard voices that caught his attention.

"Did you hear about Sawamura's girlfriend?"

"No kidding! He's actually dating someone?"

"He's going out with a girl from Ogurabashi High. That's why no one knows - 'cause they're from totally different schools."

"Yeah, that's true... Ogurabashi High is full of rich wishy-washy people, right?"

"I don't know about the wishy-washy bit but they're certainly a bunch of rich snots."

"I heard she's actually kind of shy, though..."

"I totally didn't see Sawamura as her type. Seriously - he's such a violent jackass and-"

"Don't talk about what you don't know," Came Ayase's voice, strong and firm, "Sawamura's changed a lot and you know it."

Seiji felt a wave of gratitude towards Ayase's indignance on his behalf, though he was sure it wasn't going to make her very popular. The girls' and boys' voices quieted down, however, and Seiji took the moment to pull the door open and walk in. The students who had been talking about him looked startled and slightly scared when he approached them. He demanded, "How do you all know about my girlfriend?"

The girls looked excitedly at each other as one of the guys answered nervously, "I heard about her from a Shin Sakura High student. He said he had to take photos of you and her together."

A nerve twitched in Seiji's temple. "What?"

"Er, I don't know why," the guy said quickly, looking scared, "He just showed me one of the photos and I recognised the uniform from Ogurabashi."

Seiji looked down at the group of students, and all of them looked uneasily at each other. He startled all of them by slamming his hand down the centre of one of their desks and leaning his head in towards them. He beckoned at them conspiratorially, and they hesitantly bent their heads towards him.

His face twisted into a dark and sinister glare as he hissed, "If you breathe a word about her to anyone else, I will make sure that none of you are ever able to walk again. Got that?"

He got up, his face back to normal as he strode back to his desk at the back, and though he heard one of the girls mutter 'jackass' he knew he'd gotten the message across.

Now that he knew Midori could be used against him, he was going to make sure, to the best of his abilities, that no one knew about her relationship with him.

For one thing, it was dangerous for her thanks to his enemies.

But what one of the girls had said brought something to light Seiji hadn't considered much before. Yes, his general reputation was a violent jackass - and now that Midori was dating him, if anyone found out, her own reputation might become tarnished because of him. She was shy enough already - it would make life terrible for her if people made her out to be "the violent jackass's girlfriend".

Damn it. Was he ever going to be a normal student with a regular love life?

"Sawamura." Seiji turned to his right, rising his brows at Ayase who wasn't looking at him, but was a slight shade of red. "Is it... true?" A pause, then - "Is it her?"

Seiji stared at her. Then he recalled Ayase's confession, and his response to it, and realised what she was talking about. Ayase, out of all the people he'd known, had the right to know. "Yeah."

"Oh." Ayase turned to look at Seiji and gave him a genuine smile as she said, "Congratulations."

Seiji smiled back briefly as he repeated, "Yeah." There was a slight twinge in his chest as he realised that Ayase had yet to find someone to be with. Glancing at her as she helped one of their classmates with homework, he sincerely hoped she'd find her significant other soon. She deserved to find someone.

* * *

Ayase pressed her head against the wall outside the classroom, her eyes shut as her mind roamed.

Hearing that Sawamura now had a girlfriend hadn't exactly shocked her; his surreptitious glances over his shoulders before leaving school accompanied with strong blushing had given her quite a big hint. She was really quite over him now, she knew it... yet...

Perhaps she'd had just the slightest of hopes that he'd one day...

But no. Now she knew it wasn't going to happen. He clearly really, really liked the girl, and there was no way he'd ever give her a back-glance. It was time she didn't just look away from him, but actually stepped out of his line of vision. She would do it... she had to do it.

Because she had been feeling quite cold after her confession to him. It had left her barren inside, and though she did not regret liking Sawamura, she had to admit that it had been painful. It still pained now.

'Don't cry, you idiot,' She thought to herself forcefully, when she heard an anxious voice next to her.

"Ayase-san? Are you alright?"

She looked up and saw the concerned eyes of Narushima.

"Senpai." She tried to get more words out, but now her eyes filled so she couldn't speak. She had suddenly remembered her thoughts when he had confessed to her... about the choice she'd had to make.

'To nurture love for someone else, or be nurtured by love...'

"Oh no, did something terrible happen?"

The panic in his gestures, the worry in his voice, but most of all, the love in his eyes somehow made Ayase have the urge to bawl her eyes out. Just to revel in the sensation of being cared for... She sternly told herself to grow up.

"I am... I'm fi-"

"Ayase-kun, I'm sure you're not fine." At her surprised look, Narushima took a deep breath. "Would- would you go out after school and talk about it with me then?"

"Go out?" Ayase repeated, flushing, and he said added hastily,

"It's not a date or anything, honest."

"Okay, Narushima-senpai." She said softly. His eyes brightened.

"After school at the gates, then? Do you have any after-school activities?"

"No, I don't. Don't you?"

"There's no basketball today, and to my knowledge, no student council duties either. Great."

He smiled at her shyly, and Ayase thought that maybe she could stand to let herself be loved for once.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting away.


	5. Chapter Five: I am so Lonely

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Five: I am so Lonely**

* * *

Seiji seemed to be acting a little weird in Midori's eyes when he started walking her home that day. At first, she had thought his nervous behaviour was attributed to the English and calculus tests he had on Wednesday; he'd seemed to be steeling himself to do something terrifying when, right after they'd walked out of the park, he asked her very quickly, "Do you have time today to help me on some tests I have next week?"

His face had been abnormally red for a question not that monstrous; blinking, Midori had said, "I have an essay to do on Japanese Literature, but I can do it over at your home, if you like."

"Oh, really? I mean, er, great, thanks a lot. Uh, would you like to get something to eat?" Midori thought he seemed a bit hyper, a bit unusual for him, but she rather liked it - it made her remember he could still be as shy as she felt at times, and though she'd never tell it to his face, she found it adorable.

He continued to act a bit over-ecstatic in the shop they bought cup-noodles from. By the time they reached his house, he'd somewhat calmed down.

"Uh, come on in, I just need to get rid of some dishes."

Seiji took her bag and his, almost threw it next to the low table, then practically ran to the kitchen. By the time Midori had taken out her books and pens, she thought she heard a plate break. Getting slightly worried, she peeked into the kitchen, and proceeded to watch him over-energetically spraying half the bottle of dish-washing liquid into the sink before scrubbing like crazy. She approached him and touched his elbow gently.

"Huh? Oh, you can go back in, I can do this fine," He prattled as soap-suds began spilling out of the sink. Midori rolled up her uniform sleeves as she said reassuringly,

"If I help, we can get these done in no time... GAH!" She had only just realised how much there was to wash up; there were piles of bowls and cups that were littered with cutlery.

"I've been busy," Seiji said quickly, though he had the decency to blush as he said it; he avoided her curious gaze as they set to work on the dishes. "You know, with exams coming up and all..."

'There is something really weird with Seiji-kun today,' Midori thought, frowning slightly when he looked deliberately away from her when she tried to glance his face, 'I wonder what it is?'

* * *

'She probably thinks I'm a moron,' Seiji thought, cringing when Midori's eyes were trained on her book extract, 'I bet she thinks I'm a real freak now... great...'

The truth was, Seiji was overjoyed to have Midori sitting here across him. They had studied together before, sure, but since his crushing sense of loneliness the other night the fact that he had come home today with Midori at his side had made him feel like he was floating.

He was trying his best not to act too obviously eager, though it didn't seem to be working; Midori had given him very worried glances throughout their dish-washing. There was no way he could tell her that seeing her wash the dishes had replaced some of his older memories, making him feel so good his face had split into a ridiculously wide grin which he couldn't get rid of; she'd looked over at him at that split second and he'd spun his head away, lest she scream with terror at his fierce happiness.

But just sitting here studying together... this was nice. Seiji hid his smile with his English textbook, trying to concentrate but not being to resist catching glimpses of her concentrated face every now and then. Hell yeah, he liked this.

"Ano, Seiji-kun... do I have something on my face?"

"Eh?"

"You, er, keep looking at me," Midori said, blushing as she touched her face inquisitively, and Seiji tried not to bang his head into the table repeatedly.

"Oh, no, nothing's on your face," He said quickly, then finally began to really read the text. "Hey, Midori, I don't really get what this part means..."

* * *

Midori checked her watch. It was well past six now; her essay was done, and though Seiji was still hopeless at some parts of integration, she had to go home now. She opened her mouth to tell him she had to go, when he suddenly stopped fidgeting with his pen and asked in a rush, "D'you wanna eat dinner with me?

When all she did was stare at him blankly, he added hurriedly, "'Cause it's pretty late already, and I- I have a lot of stuff to eat, so..." He trailed off, still unable to look at her, his face glowing red. Midori sensed a well of insecurity in him; taking a deep breath, she decided to follow instinct and reached out. She gently pressed her hand onto his, letting his eyes flick up to meet hers in surprise, and she said quietly with a soft smile,

"I'd love to, Seiji-kun. Let me go ask my mother, first."

The effect was amazing; his whole face seemed to light up as he gave a speechless nod. Rising to her feet, Midori moved quickly, hoping he hadn't noticed how much she had trembled while doing that. She pulled her cellphone out of her bag, dialed, then paused before confirming the number.

She wondered how her mother might react to her staying with Seiji-kun for dinner, considering her rather blunt statement of disapproval this morning about them. Not wanting Seiji to know about this, Midori asked, "Can I use this outside? My phone works badly indoors."

"Uhm, okay," Seiji said, still somewhat finding it difficult to grope for words; once outside, trying not to let her teeth chatter from the cold, she called.

"Midori, it's so late! Where are you?"

"Sorry, I didn't know it would take so long... I'm studying at- Iwasaki-san's house." So she did end up lying. Oh well... what her mother didn't know would keep her happy, though it didn't stop her from feeling a bit guilty. "Her family- asked if I could eat dinner there. I-I m-mean here."

"Oh, that's wonderful, Midori!" Her mother gushed, making her wince, "You're finally socialising! That's perfect! Of course you can stay there."

"Thanks."

"I'll tell Makie-san the good news! See you later."

"See you." Midori guiltily hung up before hurrying back inside; she could already hear Seiji moving about pots and pans. As she stepped into the kitchen, he spun around with a packet of sugar in one hand an a saucepan in the other, blushing a bit as he asked nervously,

"Did she say yes?" She smiled and nodded. His face broke into one of relief, though he was obviously trying to hide it to no avail. She raised her brows at him, but he only asked,

"What do you want to eat?"

* * *

Midori ended up making most of the dinner; they ate her tofu dish specialty and some hashed beef with rice. Seiji had pretty much lied about having too many supplies to spare; his refrigerator had mainly consisted of beer and tequila, which he firmly maintained were all his sister's. The food they had conjured up had come from scrounging around the cupboard - the hashed beef packets had come from there - and since tofu was pretty much the only thing the were in abundance of, Midori had made the best of the single carrot and potato they'd found.

As they had been making dinner, the kitchen had been full of warm steam and a lot of bustling about; Midori dipped the ladle into the tofu stew and ladled it into a small dish. She handed it to Seiji with a smile. "Try some?"

He was busy stirring the hashed beef with his hands, so he just craned his neck over and sipped from the dish. Then he nodded as he said enthusiastically, "Great as usual."

"As- usual?" She blinked at him confusedly, and he seemed a bit flustered for a moment before elaborating,

"Er- sorry, I say 'as usual' a lot to my sister," Seiji gave a nervous laugh before returning his gaze to the simmering hashed beef, though Midori kept her eyes trained on him for a while longer.

He did that quite often - one moment he'd make a remark that sounded like they'd known each other for ages - then he'd brush it off quickly. Midori wondered what that was all about; she couldn't quite fathom the pangs in her chest everytime he made a throwaway comment like that, and it was times like this Midori was sure that Seiji wasn't telling her something important...

She tucked those thoughts away to the corner of her mind; she'd wait for him to tell her about that, too, when he felt he had to. Something else had occurred to her, however.

"Midori, have you seen that movie called 'Gun Brothers'? The sequel is coming out, and my favourite actor- er, what're you grinning about?"

Blushing, Midori poked her ladle about her tofu as she mumbled, "Mm, it's just that... when I fed you some of this, I felt- I felt a bit like Seiji-kun's wife." She repressed the urge to giggle in delight as she kept her eyes on the tofu; Seiji seemed at a loss for words for a few seconds.

"Buh- wha- d-don't say such embarrassing things!" Seiji spluttered, far more flustered than he'd been a few seconds ago, and with his face resembling a ripe tomato he shut the gas off and stomped towards the dining table with the saucepan of hashed beef. Letting herself giggle a little, Midori turned the gas off for the tofu and joined Seiji in setting up the table.

As they settled down, Midori prompted, "So is Aikawa Shou appearing?"

Seiji brightened at the mention of Shou and chattered excitedly, "He's going to co-star in 'Gun Brothers 2' again, and 'Gun Brothers' in the DVD collection I have is amazing enough already! There was this interview with him, and he says this movie will be the first time he's..."

It was when they'd finished dinner when Seiji began to steam with embarrassment at the rather meagre portions. Luckily, Midori didn't have much of an appetite to begin with, so she thought the dinner was fine.

"You- you can eat more when you get home to make up for this," Seiji burst out after they cleared up the dishes, marking the sixth time he'd said something of the like.

"I'm full, Seiji-kun! Don't worry about it. It was a really great dinner! Thank you." He only flushed at her sincere smile. "I guess I should go, it's late now."

His face fell for only a microsecond, and though he immediately covered it up with a bright smile, Midori had noticed. "Oh, of course! Yeah, sorry to keep you so late. I'll walk you home."

"No, don't!" Midori exclaimed; she flushed at her clumsiness as Seiji looked at her in surprise. She still didn't want to tell him about her mother's disapproval, however, and she quickly covered, "I'll be fine. It's a cold night, so I'll probably run home or something. It's no problem..." She picked up her schoolbag and tucked her books into it, avoiding his gaze. Seiji walked her to the door, but when she stepped out she looked back at him concernedly. "Seiji-kun, are you alright?"

"Eh? Do I-I seem weird?"

"Uhm, a little." He turned scarlet, but adamantly shook his head.

"No, I'm fine. Good night, Midori." She smiled as she turned to go, when he asked suddenly, "Maybe I'll see you during the weekend?"

"Of course, I'll call you," She said assuringly, and with a wave she started to leave. A couple of paces away, she turned and looked over at Seiji to wave again, when she was startled to see a terribly forlorn look on his face. Not seeing her, he turned and shut the door behind him. She stared at the door for a minute or so, before she realised it was far too cold to just stand there; the wind was frosty and held snowflakes. She began walking home.

Seiji had been acting awfully strange today. He'd been kind of jumpy, a bit hyper, and generally very nervous... Maybe he'd been ready to tell her what he wanted from her? Midori wasn't sure about that, but something definitely weird was going on...

She thought about it all the way home, and just a few steps from the main gate to her mansion, Midori realised she'd stopped walking. When she tried to walk on, however, her mind was way back with Seiji, and Midori realised she didn't want to go home yet. She couldn't go home and just leave him like that. Not after seeing his crestfallen expression when she'd said she had to leave, and when she'd turned to say goodbye once more...

Just steps away from home, she phoned her mother again.

"Iwasaki-san has asked me if I can stay over the night," Midori said, "would you let me stay? It is Sunday tomorrow."

"Well... Iwasaki doesn't have any brothers, does she?"

She did. "Uhm... yes, but he's... er, he's over at his friend's house, too."

"Oh, that's alright," Her mother said in relief, "go on and have a good night then, Midori. Have fun!"

Midori slid the battery out of her phone before slipping it back into her bag. It only seemed to hit her then what she'd just done, because she'd only been thinking on how to extend her time with Seiji-kun; with a colossal lie like that, she'd HAVE to stay over at his house - AND tell Iwasaki about this! What had she done? Deciding to brave the latter tomorrow, Midori turned back and retraced her footsteps in the shallow snow, trying not to think too hard about it.

Long later, she reached Seiji's home once more. Frozen and shivering, she walked slowly back to his front door. She lost her nerve just as she raised her finger above the doorbell. What was she thinking? How could she even hope to sleep in his home, when they would be alone?

Of course she trusted Seiji, but... Just the very idea of it made Midori blush. She'd never fall asleep knowing Seiji was somewhere nearby. Maybe she'd do better to dash over to Iwasaki's now and see if they'd let her in for the night... Seiji's forlorn look came back to mind... No, she would not run away. She needed to have courage, and she'd do what she knew she must.

Midori rang the doorbell.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting. Also, in some - perhaps most - schools in Japan, the students attend school on Saturdays. For the sake of the story to work, Midori and Seiji both attend schools that enforce this, too. Many schools end on Saturday earlier than the weekdays, so if you want to, it is possible to assume the same for Midori and Seiji - the cup-noodles then become their lunch, and not a snack. You know, I'm totally reading too much into this! XD;


	6. Chapter Six: Fulfilling

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Six: Fulfilling**

* * *

There were a lot of thundering footsteps inside; then Seiji's voice sounded, quiet at first but getting louder every second. "I thought you said you weren't going to visit 'till I was twenty in your letter, ane-"

The door was flung open, and the words died on Seiji's mouth as he stared at the snow-flecked Midori looking back at him. Or rather, also staring back at him; he was shirtless.

"Err- uhm- wha- uh-" Seiji seemed unable to speak; then, seeing how frozen she was, he pulled her in suddenly, shutting the door behind her as he asked quickly, "Did you leave something behind?"

"No, I-I-I d-didn't." Midori blushed. What on earth was she going to tell him? She steeled herself. "I was... just wondering if you'd... let me stay the night."

There was a long silence as Seiji simply stared at her. Midori could feel her blush deepening; she honestly didn't mean to take it like this, but she wished he'd put a shirt on or something if he was going to stare at her so intensely. After a moment, he choked out, "Wh- did- is something wrong between you and your mom, or something?"

"What? Oh, no- I mean, it's just that... you... seem so alone lately..." Midori bit her lip, wondering how Seiji would react to that. For a moment, he seemed stunned; then he managed to say,

"Then did you- ask your mom?"

"I- I did." She mumbled, averting her eyes from his, and Seiji didn't say anything for a while. When she dared look up at him, he was bright pink. "Uhm... okay, you can- er, take a shower now if you want, I just took one..." He ran a hand through his damp hair nervously as he mumbled, "I'll be in my room if you want anything..."

"Is there something you have I could sleep in?" She asked shyly, and his blush intensified as he replied,

"Of course, yeah, I'll find something for you now-" He bounded off towards his room. Midori put her schoolbag down and sank down on his sofa, wondering where she'd sleep.

* * *

Once Midori had left, Seiji had been incredibly down. He'd considered running after her to walk her home, but thought better of it; it hadn't been that late at the time, so her going home alone seemed fine. Plus she hadn't seemed to want him to... maybe he'd been forcing her to stay and eat that stupid little dinner with him? Depressed and more lonely than ever, Seiji had mindlessly watched television before heading off to the shower.

He had never expected in a million years for Midori to return. It had been so unexpected he'd actually thought it was his sister paying a 'surprise' visit to him; to see her here because she'd recognised his loneliness was more than he could have ever asked for. How she'd known, Seiji suspected he'd never guess, but now he felt so excited about it he didn't know how to act.

He wasn't going to be alone tonight. He wasn't going to fall asleep alone tonight...

He finally found some pyjamas he'd outgrown a year ago and re-emerged in the living room with it; she took it from him as he said, "They're some old ones that should fit you better than the other clothes I have."

"Sorry to cause you so much trouble, Seiji-kun..." Seiji thought he might have to smack something silly. She thought this was troubling HIM?

"No, no- just- uhm, the bathroom's here." He slid the door open for her, and she smiled shyly as she stepped in and said in a nervously coy voice,

"No peeking."

"Of course not!" He exclaimed a bit too loudly; his entire face turned crimson, and he sprinted to his room.

Did she HAVE to add that bit in? He hadn't actually thought about that, and now several images were running through his head that were very inappropriate. 'Come on, the doors are heavily frosted - she'd see your shadow even if you did try to peek,' he told himself, then hit himself for even coming up with that. He had to do something to take his mind off those things!

He rummaged around his room and finally pulled out the English book he'd been looking at with Midori just earlier that afternoon. Not his ideal choice, but definitely something that'd cleanse his mind for a while. He lay flat on his back upon the bed and began to read...

* * *

Midori stepped out of the shower, pulling the pyjama sleeves down her wrists; they were far too big for her despite being smaller than Seiji's size, and she rolled up the pant cuffs so she could walk properly. Padding along the corridor, she guessed the one that was Seiji's room was the one with the door ajar, and so taking a deep breath she stepped in.

Like she'd expected, his room was a mess, though not as bad as one might expect of 'a Mad Dog'. Seiji was sprawled on his bed, the English book open on his chest; he was fast asleep. Midori wondered what to do.

She supposed she'd just tuck him in and get a space on a spare futon if she could find one, or nip on the sofa. Stepping over the piles of manga and games, Midori made her way to the bed, and for a moment she just studied his sleeping face. Seiji was adorable when he slept; she was suddenly filled with the mad urge to grab his face and hug him tightly, but resisted the scary urge and instead gently lifted the English book away from Seiji's hands. As she did so, however, Seiji's eyes fluttered open.

"Crap... did I fall asleep?" Seiji sat himself up, rubbing at his eyes and yawning. Then he looked at her in his overlarge pyjamas, and Midori was suddenly very aware of how the smooth skin just below her throat was exposed at the dip of the collar. He commented quietly, "That looks good on you."

She turned a brilliant red, and he suddenly seemed to realised what he'd said; colouring scarlet himself, he hastily continued, "Sorry. I didn't get to sleep much last night."

"Oh, why not?" She asked concernedly, and he opened his mouth - then shut it, looking embarrassed.

"Uh... I was... doing homework." That was a bit suspicious, but he didn't give her time to ponder his sincerity as he said quickly, "Sorry I fell asleep."

"Don't be sorry!" Midori said, her heart thumping a little faster now he was awake. She tried not to let her eyes stray to his still bare torso, and she mumbled, blushing, "Ano... aren't you cold?"

He looked at himself, then seemed to remember something. "Oh, I needed to redress some wounds, that's all." He shifted himself a bit and bent over so he could stick his head under the bed; his hands groped around and he pulled out a first-aid kit. Midori, meanwhile, got a good view of his back - it was cross-hatched here and there with knife scars, with some parts blotchy with blue bruises. Her eyes softened as he drew himself back up and flipped the kit open; she raked a look over his face to see more knifed lines.

"Here, let me," Midori said softly, taking the alcohol bottle and the cotton swabs from Seiji's fingers; he tried to take them back insisting,

"I can do it myself, don't bother about it!"

"Seiji-kun, I want to do this." Midori said as firmly as she dared. He let out a not-entirely-reluctant sigh before letting her soak the cotton wool with alcohol. As she dabbed his cuts, he let out a low hiss of pain. She frowned as she applied a new bandage to a rather severe cut on his upper-arm, watching him shut his eyes tightly and clench his teeth as she did so. When she turned to his back, he commented,

"I guess it's a good thing you can do my back for me. You know, since I can't do it myself."

"You mean you haven't cleaned these cuts yet?"

"I took a shower," Seiji said somewhat defensively, but Midori thought it explained why Seiji had so many old scars on his back.

"You know that's not enough," She chided, and Seiji let out a noise of low regard. She narrowed her eyes at him while cleaning the cuts on his back, glaring at the back of his blond head as she continued, "Seiji-kun, you should take more care of yourself!"

"...Would you rather I stopped fighting?"

Midori paused in the action of picking up the tube of disinfectant cream from the kit, caught unexpectedly by the question. She hadn't thought he'd actually ask her that. "Well... I do think if you fought less, you wouldn't get hurt so much..."

Seiji stiffened slightly, though his tone remained light. "Hey, I don't ask for it."

"I'm not saying you do," Midori said, sensing the warning in his voice despite the light tone, "I just think you shouldn't fight unless you have to."

"That's what I do."

"But-"

"Midori, I don't pick fights. You know that."

"I-I know, but maybe if you- talked it out- people wouldn't challenge you because-"

"You don't really think they're negotiable, do you?" Seiji's voice finally rose up a notch, and Midori bit her lip.

"But Seiji-kun, if you tried-"

"Look, talk doesn't happen, alright? I-I know the problems. But I'll do my best to not involve you again in any of my fights, and I'll make sure my delinquent image doesn't damage yours."

There was a long silence. When Seiji finally looked back to see her reaction, Midori saw his stunned expression at her tears and the anger in her face.

"Midori?"

"Why do you think I'm worried about myself?" She demanded, "I don't care what people think about you, or me. I don't care about my own safety. I'm worried about YOU! I just- I just want you to be safe. Just- promise me you won't fight unless you really have to, okay?"

Seiji stared at her. Then his eyes softened. "...Sorry."

"No, I-"

"I'm really... happy to hear that." Seiji looked back to his front, so Midori was left looking at the nape of his neck as he said quietly, "But it's inevitable. I get into a lot of trouble no matter where I go. But... I'll try."

She supposed that would have to do for now. She smiled to herself, knowing it had been hard for Seiji to admit that to her - and happy he'd said it. Another moment's silence, and Seiji started speaking again, though now in a genuinely light tone. "I guess it's just my luck I've gotten pretty famous for my 'Devil's right hand', huh? Though... I guess that's how you knew about me in the first place...?"

Midori caught him looking back at her curiously, and she flushed as she realised she'd never told him this before. "No, I didn't know you through that... no, I mean, I did know you were famous for being a Mad Dog but I f-fell for you b-before I knew that..." She felt a smile light her face as she remembered. "Back in middle school, I saw you fighting in a back alley... because some high school boys were trying to force a middle school boy to give them his wallet..."

"That was Miyahara," Seiji said suddenly, "I remember that. That was the first time I met him. You were there?"

"I was hiding," Midori admitted, "I was frightened! I thought you wanted to take money off the student, too!" Seiji appeared to face-fault. She continued, "But after you beat them up, you just picked up your bag and began walking away... and when that boy said thank you, you just said, 'try to stand up for yourself'..." She tenderly rubbed the cream onto Seiji's back as she murmured, "And that's when... I won't say that's the moment I fell in love with you... but that's when I wanted to know more about you..."

She could feel a heat rising from her face and his back as he mumbled, "Oh. Uh... that's... I..." He didn't seem able to say what he wanted; he tried again, "Uhm, I... so are you done now?" He looked like he wanted to hit himself but Midori didn't mind; she simply smiled at him glowingly.

"Yes... I'll be right back." Midori put together the used cotton and stood up to dispose of them and wash her hands. When she returned, the first-aid kit was back under the bed and Seiji was puzzling over the English book. She noticed he'd pulled on a flannel shirt, and she didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"Hey, Midori. I don't know how to translate one part of this."

"Which part?" Midori asked, sitting next to him, and he shuffled aside to let her have more space; he flipped the book open at a page-fold and poked at a paragraph.

"That one."

"Oh, that part. Yes, this one is complicated... Do you know what anti-theses are?" As she described it for several minutes, Seiji's head suddenly lolled onto her shoulder. She jumped slightly, then looked down to see his sleeping face; this close she could see darker circles below his eyes.

"Seiji-kun, if you were tired, just say so," Midori sighed, smiling, but she let him stay on her shoulder for a long while. When she thought her right arm might lose feeling, she slowly and reluctantly moved him down. Settling him on his pillow, she pulled the blanket over him and put his book back into schoolbag. She found the light and switched it off, then looked back over at Seiji. Wanting to see his sleeping face just one more time, Midori quietly walked over to him once more (she nearly tripped over a manga pile on the way in the dark) and sat down on the bed.

Though her face was so red she was sure she was emitting heat waves, she traced her fingertips along his hairline and down the side of his face. His skin felt so hot compared to her cold hands, she knew she should stop before he started dreaming he was sticking his face in ice-cream, but she couldn't help it... He really did have an irrisistable face when he slept.

And she knew she'd need to wait a long time before she had to courage to do this while he was awake...

"Seiji-kun," She whispered, "I love you so much."

He stirred slightly. Startled, Midori started to move, when Seiji suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her down, pulling her towards him. She let out a yelp of surprise, her face burning as he hooked his arm around her waist; she was pressed against Seiji in a very awkwardly close position. Squirming around, she tried to extricate herself as she gasped, "Seiji-kun?" Their faces were only an inch apart; she looked directly into his face.

It turned out he wasn't even awake; he was still breathing evenly with his eyes closed, obviously very comfortable as he stubbornly held her fast to him. She bit her lip, wondering what kind of dream he was having so vividly to hold onto her like this. 'It better not be another woman,' She thought, trying to at least change her position so she wasn't on the verge of mashing her face into him any second.

She eventually managed to twist her body round so her back pressed into his chest, his right arm tucked around her lower belly. As she straightened the pyjamas she wore, Seiji's body suddenly curved around her, spooning her against him tightly; he buried his face somewhere against the back of her neck, and let out a very content sigh. Midori flushed seven shades of red. "Seiji-kun?" She tried again, but he was in a deep sleep.

Midori was still very red, but she had to admit this felt rather nice. She'd just been almost frozen after her shower, and though she had warmed up a bit afterwards she'd still been a bit cold. But with his body heat pressed right against her she was enveloped in a delicious warmth. She supposed it couldn't hurt to snuggle a bit into him. His heartbeat pounded strongly against her back; she could feel and hear her own heartbeat racing from their close position. Then he breathed against her skin, "Midori... I'll protect you always..."

Her eyes flew open, and though her heart hammered, she waited for a while and realised he was still asleep. She closed her eyes again, her cheeks flushed from happiness now.

Seiji would freak out the next morning if he knew what he'd done to her; he'd never show this sort of affection awake, she was sure of it. Which meant the only way out of this was for her to stay awake until he loosened his hold on her; then she'd get out and go and sleep on the sofa. She would not force her boyfriend into any awkward situation, not if she could help it. She kept her eyes open determinedly, waiting for his arm to weaken its grip.

She waited and waited and waited. That arm stayed around her firmly.

'Seiji-kun, I'm going to fall sleep if you don't... loosen... your...'

Midori's eyes fell shut and she fell asleep in his embrace.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting continues.


	7. Chapter Seven: Temporary High

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Seven: Temporary High**

* * *

He was very gently swinging in a porch swing, just like those American romance movies, his arm crooked around a small girl leaning into him.

"Seiji-kun..." She was murmuring, her green hair fluttering in the soft breeze, "I love you so much, I feel as though my heart will burst with all my love for you..."

Seiji grinned as he hugged her tightly and whispered into her ear, "I love you too, more than life itself... You're my rainbow in the darkness..."

"Yes, I'll never leave you alone," She murmured, and he closed his eyes blissfully as the swing slowly rocked... they looked at each other, deep into the each other's eyes, and began to lean towards each other... Seiji puckered up his lips as he crooned,

"Midori..."

"Sawamura-sama..."

"Mid- huh?" He looked down to see Kouta looking up at him with sparkling eyes, wearing Midori apparel and a green wig. "SHINGYOUJI?"

"Sawamura-sama, take me!" Kouta sang, then he latched onto Seiji's arm before crying out happily, "I'm yours!" He pounced on Seiji. Seiji could only scream in horror, his arms flailing as his scream filled his ears-

-Seiji's eyes flicked open. He found himself staring at the familiar side of the bookcase by his bed, and let out a low sigh, trying to get his racing heart to calm down.

'Just a dream. Only a dream. Calm down...'

He realised he was incredibly warm; this was strange considering the cold mornings lately... he then noticed his chin was resting on something soft and fuzzy. He leaned away from it, confused, and found that his arm tightly wound around the source of warmth. He raised himself a bit to see messy green hair and the calm, sleeping face of Midori, quietly sleeping in his arm's embrace.

It took a lot of Seiji's wits to not bolt up screaming 'WHAAAT?' He tried furiously to remember what he'd done last night as he stared at the peaceful Midori, his heart pounding his chest again; wracking his brains, all he could think of was the English book Midori had been explaining to him. He must've fallen asleep, but how he'd gotten himself into this position he had no idea. She was pressed closely against his frame, and his right hand was tucked snugly around her form; he didn't mind their positions at all, truth be told, but he was very lost.

How on earth...? His alarm clock told him it was still four-thirty in the morning; it was far too early to try and think about this sort of thing. He'd try to remember a few hours later...

...She smelt so nice. Knowing she wasn't awake, Seiji let himself indulge a bit. He buried his face into her shoulder, pressing her tightly to him. This was very different to having a little Midori sleeping peacefully next to him; this was somehow so much more solid and real... His heart thumping loudly, he rubbed his nose against her neck, revelling in the warmth and softness. Midori let out a little noise of pleasure as she snuggled deeper into his hold.

Seiji knew he'd do best to fall asleep before he did anything a bit TOO indulgent. Letting himself give just one daring, fleeting kiss against her skin, he simply held her and closed his eyes. He let drowsiness and pleasure sweep him back into dreams, his last thoughts lingering on the wonderful feeling of being with someone he cared for when he woke up, and knowing she loved and trusted him enough to let him this close to her...

* * *

Seiji's eyes slid open sleepily, and he found himself alone. He bolted upright, kicking back the covers alarmedly; where had she gone? His eyes flickered to the alarm clock next to him. It was eight-forty-five in the morning. Groaning, Seiji flopped back onto his bed.

Midori must have woken up and left much earlier, in order not to worry her mother. Of course... Seiji curled up under the sheets, shutting his eyes tightly as his hands clenched the space she'd been nestled in just a few hours ago.

'This is ridiculous,' Seiji thought to himself, 'I last saw her around four hours ago and I'm blubbering like a baby.' He rubbed his eyes, forced himself out of bed into the cool air and shuffled into the bathroom, yawning. It was a bit early for him, really, but now he'd gotten up there was no way he was passing up the chance to call Midori out for brunch, since she was home now.

He was wondering where to go when he entered the kitchen, still in his sleeping clothes, and saw upon the dining table a full breakfast of rice, miso soup, fish and a small stack of buttered toast. His jaw dropped at the sight, and fell even lower when Midori emerged, carrying a glass of orange juice. When she saw Seiji, she let out a small squeal of surprise before flushing. Seiji felt at loss for words, but he had to say something.

"Uhm- good morning! Did you sleep well?" He could have kicked himself for asking that, but Midori blushed prettily as she nodded slowly. Seiji dragged out a chair and sat down, staring down a the steaming bowl of miso soup with an air of awe.

"I went out and bought some things for your refrigerator," She said, looking somewhat shy as she set the glass down before Seiji's seat, "and I made breakfast."

"Thanks," Seiji said, still amazed, "I thought- I thought you might have left."

"Oh, how could I do that?" Midori asked, genuinely surprised as she sat across him, and Seiji chose to just dig into the food rather than respond. Hot food in a cold morning tasted GOOD. So caught up in the deliciousness of it all, Seiji could only eat silently for the next few minutes; so engrossed in his food it took him quite a while before he noticed Midori wasn't eating but looking at him intently. He tried to continue eating, but the way she was staring was very distracting.

"Er- why're looking at me?" He demanded finally, "It makes me really self-concious all of a sudden."

"I didn't mean to stare," Midori said quickly, flushing, "I just- I just like watching you eat, that's all."

"Why?" Seiji was confused; wasn't eating a bit unattractive, especially when a guy like him was eating it at such speed and gusto? She just smiled at him as she bit into a piece of toast, then she looked down at the newspaper in her hands.

"They're tearing down a centre for homeless people nearby!" She said suddenly, her eyes widening, "That's terrible... how cruel."

"What're they tearing it down for?"

"A parking lot for the new mall next to it... Seiji-kun, we should write in letters!"

"Er... WE?"

As Midori read out some of the editorials submitted already, and energetically described the power of unity and effectiveness in numbers, he carefully watched the way she was munching her bread. And he thought maybe, at that moment at least, he understood why she liked watching him eat.

* * *

They spent the rest of the morning watching television, poking at half-finished essays and cleaning up the house; they went out for lunch. Midori was feeling slightly guilty about staying out of her home for so long, however, she informed Seiji she had to go home after they dropped by a gaming arcade for some 'stress relief', as Seiji put it. They had rushed out of the arcade trying desperately to look inconspicuous, because they had been mashed buttons so violently on a machine they had pushed them all in permanently. Outside the arcade, they were drinking vending machine milk coffee when Midori said softly, "I think I need to go home now... my mother will be worried."

Seiji, to Midori's surprise, only nodded understandingly, smiling as he said easily, "Of course."

He walked her home, and this time she raised no objections; she just made sure she stopped within paces of the front gate so no one inside would be able to see her. "Thank you, Seiji-kun," Midori said, turning to him, "You can-"

She stopped; he was looking around furtively, looking quite nervous.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no," He said hastily, looking incredibly worried as he craned his neck around her, "It's just that if any of your friends saw us together, you might get a really bad reputation 'cause of me, and that'd be really bad."

"Why would I get a bad reputation?" Midori asked, surprised, and Seiji rolled his eyes.

"Come on. Mad dog Sawamura, Devil's right hand?"

"That doesn't mean a thing."

"Midori, it may mean nothing to you, but it means everything to-"

"I don't care." Midori looked at Seiji resolutely as she said firmly, "I don't care what other people think."

"But Midori-"

"Seiji-kun, listen... even if everyone thought I was a mad animal too for being your girlfriend, I would still love you. I... appreciate the fact you're worried," Midori looked at her boots, feeling her face burn as she continued quietly, "I'm really happy you're concerned... but Seiji-kun, I don't mind people knowing about us. Maybe I even want people to know that I'm with one of the most compassionate and kind people in Japan."

When she glanced up, Seiji was scarlet. He stammered, clearly embarrassed, "I- I'm not really- I'm just a delinquent that got really lucky, Midori..."

Midori felt a warm smile light her face as she said softly, "I'm so glad I fell in love with you, Seiji-kun."

Seiji looked stunned. Then he murmured, "Midori, I..." He stopped, obviously unable to say what he wanted to; then, his gloved hands gently pressed against her face. She blinked as his fingers cupped her cheeks and tilted her face upwards; she could see the flush in his face and the intensity in his eyes as he began to lean down. She felt her head grow light as her heart thumped strongly in her throat and her ears; she let her eyes fall shut as his nose gently brushed against hers... theirs lips met.

She felt locked in his gentle hold on her face as his lips shyly sought hers; she kissed back slowly, unable to believe it. His mouth was warm, wet and soft; he was kissing her nervously, uncertainly... she deepened the kiss and felt his lips grow more insistent, more confident.

They kissed for a very long time before they finally broke apart, their breathing slightly irregular and their cheeks still flushed. He let his fingers release her face, though reluctantly, and she felt herself start to grin a bit from the giddiness; before she made a complete fool of herself she quickly spoke. "I'll call you tonight?"

Seiji didn't seem able to speak. He just nodded at her dumbly before giving her a quick, shy smile; waving, he turned and took off at a run. Midori pressed her hands to her cheeks, trying to cool herself down; she knew she was as red as a tomato by now, she had to be. She was just poking her head around the front gate to check if anyone had seen that, when she heard a shriek behind her that nearly gave her a heart-attack.

"MIDORI-CHAN!"

* * *

Iwasaki was surprised when a short boy shot an arm out to stop her from proceeding along the way to Midori's house. She was about to admonish him sharply, but she recognised him and her eyebrows shot up.

"Kouta?"

"Sssh," Kouta whispered, "Iwasaki-san, just stay still for a moment."

"Why?" She demanded, when she noticed he wasn't looking at her but at the gate of Midori's home. She followed his gaze, and her jaw dropped open. "Is-is Midori wi-with-?"

"Sawamura-san, yes."

"The devil's right hand- the Mad Dog- HE'S ASSAULTING MIDORI-CH-?" Iwasaki's cry was stifled abruptly by Kouta palm clapping over her mouth, his eyes urgently willing her to shut up as he hissed,

"He's not assaulting her, he's her BOYFRIEND."

As shocking as this piece of information was to Iwasaki, there was another emotion rising up in her. It took her a moment to realise she was impressed. Kouta was clearly ... different. Before, Iwasaki had always dismissed him as one of those rich types that had no idea how to make his own stand; he had always been in the background, a pathetic wimp who made a fool out of himself every now and then.

However, the past month or two, something had changed. Surely, before that, Kouta had been changing already... but recently he had joined Iwasaki's father's dojo and was working to become more... masculine. She supposed he had no choice, what with all those scary upper-years chasing after him with dresses. Admittedly, he did look absolutely adorable in those frills, but Iwasaki was not about to let herself think about that- especially when she was already quite affected by the way his eyes were filled with a steely indignant glint that bore into her own eyes with an indescribable power.

But Iwasaki was not one to back down. She returned his look with a fiery glare, and before he knew it he was forced to yelp and retrieve his hand when Iwasaki bit it - hard.

"He's-he's her WHAT?" She managed to choke out from her shock; Kouta frowned at her, nursing his hand as his glint returned.

"There's nothing wrong with that! He's not nearly as- as..." Kouta's voice trailed off. Before Iwasaki could continue ranting, her eyes caught on what Kouta was looking at once more, and her voice died in her throat too.

Midori was kissing the Mad Dog. Or rather, he was kissing her. In public, right in broad daylight. Kouta and Iwasaki stared. And stared.

They seemed completely oblivious to everything else; when they finally parted, Sawamura had a bit of a goofy grin on his face as he trotted off; Midori, flushed a deep pink, was grinning to herself as she began to walk back to her gate.

Iwasaki was not going to let that do. She ran with all her might towards Midori.

"MIDORI-CHAN!

Spinning around, Midori's eyes fell on Iwasaki. "I-Iwasaki-san?" Realisation seemed to dawn on Midori as her stunned face melted into one of flushed embarrassment as she stammered, "D-did you- s-see-?"

"I had NO idea the person you liked was the Mad Dog Sawamura!" Iwasaki gasped, though she looked by no means angry or scared; on the contrary she looked quite exhillarated. "I knew you were on lover terms with the guy you liked, but seriously- no one knew who, and I certainly wouldn't have guessed your type was the BAD BOY type!"

"He's not a bad boy!" Midori said, her eyes darting to the front-door as though desperately hoping no one could hear Iwasaki's excited banter and laughter, "Listen, let's talk somewhere else, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because-" Midori hesitated, then thought it would be best just to explain it quickly and get out of earshot of her mother. "Because I sort of lied about where I stayed last night; I told my mother I stayed over at your home... I hope you don't mi-"

"Why would you do that? Where did you-" Iwasaki's eyes suddenly bulged out as she cried, "NO WAY! NOT AT HIS-?"

"Somewhere else, somewhere else!" Midori said hastily, pushing Iwasaki away from her front door, "I'll explain later!"

"Wait! How come HE knows about this all, too?" Iwasaki demanded, pointing at where she'd just been hiding. Midori blinked.

"Who?"

"Who? That's your childhood pal Kouta you idi-...ot..." Iwasaki blinked herself. There was no one standing where they'd just been anymore. "Huh?"

"Kouta-kun was here?"

"Yes... he was." She frowned at Midori. "I wonder where he went..." Shrugging, she lunged an arm around Midori as she cried, "No time for that! You have to tell me EVERYTHING- or else!"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting is taking ages... I recall that I didn't see the kiss coming in this chapter until I wrote it. Writing Iwasaki is a lot of fun, because you get a good grasp of her character in the chapter she's introduced in the manga, and I get to add onto that majorly. Kouta, on the other hand, is a difficult character for me to capture perfectly because the way I see it, there have been some evident changes in him throughout the things he goes through with Seiji and Midori. At the same time, though, he's still the cute little Kouta who everyone loves to see in a dress, poor thing. I hope what I ended up with works.


	8. Chapter Eight: Consequences

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Eight: Consequences**

* * *

Midori could hardly get the millefuille down her throat, despite the fact she and Iwasaki had lined up for it for over half an hour in the freezing winds. Iwasaki was clearly far too excited to listen to her feeble pleas to quiet down, however.

"That is just the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" She exclaimed in response to Midori's brief explanation of her confession to Seiji, "I can't believe I had no idea!" She looked dumbstruck, but for someone so shocked she was looking remarkably happy and so hyper she seemed to be bouncing around in her seat. "Why didn't you tell us? Oh!" Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widening, "Does your mother not know?"

"It's not that," Midori mumbled, looking down at her millefuille, "I mean, she knows but... she..."

"She doesn't approve?" Midori looked up at Iwasaki, frowning just slightly at how gleeful her friend sounded. Noticing, Iwasaki finally calmed down enough to look seriously at her green-haired friend and ask, "How bad is it?"

Midori finally gave a small smile.

"It's not that bad." She said softly, "It's just... not exactly approved of one hundred percent."

"Oh, come on," Iwasaki scoffed, leaning back in her chair, "I mean, all parents are like that. No one likes to see their kid - especially their only kid - go dating with anyone, let alone a delinquent."

Midori glared at Iwasaki. "Iwasaki-san, Seiji-kun isn't really like that! He's..." She looked down at her cake, slightly downcast as she remembered... "He's really changed..."

It was true that Seiji-kun had changed since she had got to know him. More accurately, it seemed Seiji had changed over the time she had been in her strange coma. Before she'd been sure he'd gone looking for fights sometimes, been annoyed but still proud about his 'Devil's right hand' and had had a very short fuse with his temper. But when she'd started to see him after she'd woken from her coma, he'd changed in a way that he was no longer so trigger-happy when it came to fights. It was like he had calmed down.

She wasn't sure what it was, but something nagged at her when she thought about this. One part of her mind, the logical part, told her it was simply getting to know him more, something that said that she now knew what Seiji was really like as opposed to what she thought he was like. But another part of her mind, the more irrational and unexplained part, screamed that something was there that she simply could not remember...

"Are you listening?"

Midori snapped her head up, blinking, and saw Iwasaki looking slightly abashed. "I'm sorry, I just starting thinking about some-" She began, apologetic, when Iwasaki waved her aside.

"I was just telling you that I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't mean... well, Sawamura is kind of known for being kind of- er- rowdy. Is that why you didn't tell us?" She gave Midori a shrewd look. Midori shook her head vigorously.

"I don't care about that kind of thing! I just didn't really have the... well..." Midori looked at Iwasaki, her face flushing, "I didn't really know how to tell you. But I... I really was going to tell you all at one point..."

Iwasaki patted Midori on the head, laughing. "That's okay, you don't have to sound so sorry!" She said cheerfully. "Besides, I don't really care about that kind of thing either. You know, being rowdy and all that. It's not necessarily a bad thing." Iwasaki's eyes twinkled as she grinned mischievously. "Like I was saying, your type is the bad boy type, eh? You like the tall and tough ones?"

"What- no!" Midori flushed hotly as she stammered, "H-he just- I mean he just- just seems really bad, or tough, but Seiji-kun is... is really sweet. When you get to know him he- he really is so good to me." She hastily took a bite of cake to avoid looking at Iwasaki, who was probably smirking.

She was not expecting to hear Iwasaki say "Huh. So it's just him? Wow." in a very surprised voice. Midori looked up questioningly to see Iwasaki looking at her as though she were seeing her in a whole new light.

"Midori-chan," Iwasaki said, "You really, really like this guy."

"Of course!" Midori said indignantly, and Iwasaki smiled, no longer teasing or excited.

"Well then," Iwasaki said promptly, her voice taking an all-business tone to it, "What was all that you were talking about, when you said you lied to your mother?"

* * *

"Sawamura-san!"

Seiji thought he could hear something faintly behind him. It sounded familiar. Perhaps he was supposed to respond to it?

He didn't care, though. Whatever the noise meant, the soaring sensation pulling at his gut and lifting his heels from the ground overwhelmed it easily. He was still stuck in two minutes ago; softness fleeting against his lips and a delicious warmth and the taste of Midori all around...

"Sawamura-san!"

Midori...

"Please, wait, Sawamura-san!" Someone grabbed Seiji's arm urgently, and the move successfully jerked him out of his happy stupor. He blinked at the panting Kouta.

"Shingyouji?" Seiji grinned - perhaps he was a bit hyper from his current emotional high - and chirped, "Long time no see! What's up with you these days?"

"You need to be more careful!" Kouta said urgently. Seiji looked at him, and felt his previous elation begin to ebb away.

"Er - what do you mean? Is something wrong?"

"Yes- well, no- I mean- you can't just kiss Midori-chan in broad daylight!" Kouta said exasperatedly. Seiji thought his blood might start rushing out through his hair.

"Wh-wha- you saw-?" He spluttered, mortified, but Kouta waved that away impatiently.

"Sawamura-san, you and Midori-chan are being targeted."

It took a good few seconds for this to sink in for Seiji, who blinked confusedly at first. Then he fully pushed down the afterglow of the kiss, and his jaw tightened. "What do you mean, 'targeted'?"

"I was at the gates of Ogurabashi when school ended yesterday," Kouta explained, speaking quickly and seriously, "And there were quite a few students talking about you and Midori-chan. Apparently when you beat up the strongest in Shin Sakura-"

"He was their strongest?" Seiji scoffed, disgusted as he vaguely recalled the shivering lump in his spotty underclothes, but Kouta pinned him with a glare that startled him into silence.

"Like I was saying," Kouta said in a low voice, "they were talking about 'getting' you and Midori-chan. Together, not just you, Sawamura-san."

"What exactly are they planning to 'get'... us with?" A fleeting shot of Midori, bound and at the mercy of those revolting students from Shin Sakura flickered in Seiji's mind. He grit his teeth. Kouta hesitated.

"They were only talking about it," He admitted, but he looked anxious as he continued, "I'm pretty sure they meant it, though. They're planning something that will come through eventually."

Seiji ran a hand through his hair, letting out a noise of frustration; when would those idiots just leave him alone? Kouta spoke before he could think any further.

"Please, just be careful with Midori-chan. You two are finally together properly, and I..." Then Kouta looked at Seiji with a rather complicated smile, slightly strained, rather sad, yet genuine all the same. "I... I just... want you two to be happy."

Seiji stared at him. "Shingyouji...?"

Kouta bowed his head so Seiji could not see his eyes. "I trust you to protect her, Sawamura-san." He spun on his heel and left at a run before Seiji could reply.

* * *

The air was wrought with hoarse yells that echoed across the polished wood, but Iwasaki was so used to it she used the dojo area as her place for quiet thinking. Sinking down onto the wooden platform just outside the sliding doors, Iwasaki rested her chin in her palm and gazed out over the frozen pond.

So Midori was going out with Sawamura, the Mad Dog. They'd been dating for a couple of months already. And here I was thinking she'd be the last to get a boyfriend out of all of us, Iwasaki thought with a smirk. Good for Midori, getting with the love of her life! Chika in particular was just going to explode from excitement once she heard...

The smirk faded slightly as Iwasaki realised that she was the only one who didn't have a crush right now. It kind of sucked, not having any sort of love life. She sighed, and sunk her face into her arms and feeling the push of air out of her puffy jacket sleeves as she did so.

It wasn't like she'd never dated before high school. Her first boyfriend had been Toriyama-kun, two years older than her and sports captain. He'd been her type almost exactly; tall, muscly arms, boyish grin and totally macho. She'd liked him enough, alright.

But Toriyama-kun had had a fatal flaw: jealousy of the worst kind. Even the slightest glance she might give another boy while spacing out would send him into fits of spitting rage. Finally she had just lost it with him during one of his accusations, and then... Iwasaki flexed her fingers, and thought she could still feel the tingles from how hard she had swung her fist into his jaw. She hadn't been sorry to end that one, that was for sure.

And then there'd been Kaitou-san, the vendor selling baked corn and takoyaki outside her middle-school. At the time he'd just turned twenty, had a light stubble on his chin with well-worn hands and a light-hearted attitude. Oh, he'd been much, much more mature than Toriyama-kun. Iwasaki let herself space out dreamily for a few seconds, remembering their first few dates... then her eyes flew open as she remembered how they just... drifted apart. A brief flame that had burnt itself out within weeks.

After those two, she'd just endorsed herself into sports, despite Toriyama-kun's incessant glaring. Perhaps she'd initially done so just to piss him off, but eventually she realised she had a real gift for it - but more importantly, she liked it. She'd always had the muscles for it ever since her over-protective father had taught her 'self-defensive measures' from the age of six.

High school hadn't changed her passion for sports. Lacrosse on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays with extra practice on every alternating weekend, and girl's basketball on Wednesdays and Thursdays; she'd get that sports scholarship even if it killed her. She supposed she didn't really have time for romance in her life, come to think of it...

But there was no denying that it got boring sometimes. Even with the inter-high lacrosse championship coming up, Iwasaki felt life was slipping into one of its entirely too repetitive routines. Day in, day out - things were growing totally predictable. Too bad I don't have such an exciting boyfriend like Midori, Iwasaki brooded as she watched her father put his students through their paces. But then, the Mad Dog was a bit too much, even for Iwasaki. She liked her tough guys, but they needed to be someone she could get reins on...

Unbidden, the image of Kouta's powerful gaze just a few hours back sprang to mind.

"BREAK!" Puffing and heaving, the dojo was soon filled with chattering and shuffling as people ran for drinks. Startled at herself, Iwasaki shook her head firmly. Ridiculous, she told herself, why would Kouta's face-?

"Iwasaki-san?" The subject in question popped his head around the sliding door and looked at her questioningly, face inches from her own. Without thinking, Iwasaki whacked his face with a sharp gasp of surprise. Realising it was Kouta right after, she gripped the edge of the platform and tried to catch her breath.

"Thank goodness, it's just Kouta," Iwasaki said with a relieved laugh. He looked at her with a look mixed between confusion and exasperation.

"You just hit me in the face."

"Oh, right- I didn't mean to. You startled me." She didn't mean to laugh either, but he was looking adorable as he attempted a glare that failed utterly. "I'm sorry," she added, and he shrugged and sat down next to her.

She would normally be hanging out on Sundays with Chika, Nakano, Igarashi and Midori, when they weren't with their boyfriends. Today, however, everyone had been busy and Midori had hurried home after their talk. She'd only seen Kouta in the dojo the day he joined; now that she thought about it, she'd never actually seen him training.

The white karate gi he was wearing was a little big for him, it seemed, but was creased and slightly worn from vigorous training already. He tossed his head back, sweat beads flying, and began gulping down water from a bottle. His Adam's apple bobbed like crazy. Iwasaki didn't realise she was staring until he set his water down and raised an eyebrow.

"Er- is something wrong?"

"N-no." Iwasaki thought she'd kick herself for stuttering. Then she remembered something, and narrowed her eyes. "By the way, where the hell did you go today? I felt like such an idiot when I was trying to point you out to Midori-chan!"

Kouta now looked slightly downcast as he looked at his hands, his lips pressed. A pause, and then he spoke quietly, "I went to see Sawamura-san."

"Oh, why?" Iwasaki asked in surprise. Kouta sighed.

"I thought... well, I thought that he needed to know."

"Know wh-?" Iwasaki began, when her father turned up with a jovial smile and boomed,

"Beniko! Your little friend here, he's doing pretty well! Though he was a couple of minutes late for practice today." Kouta gave a nervous laugh as the huge, bearded man gave him a slightly admonishing look. Then Iwasaki's father slapped him on the back and continued, "Going to take his first exam next week already, ne?"

This time Kouta smiled back despite his eyes watering in pain. Iwasaki looked at Kouta in surprise. Two months, and he was going for his first exam? She was about to tell him that was prety impressive, but her father's loud voice cut into her thoughts: "By the way! Kasugano... that's Midori, right?"

"Uh, yes," Iwasaki said, confused, "why?"

"Oh, well, Midori's mother called."

A cold feeling clutched at her chest. Oh no, her mind whispered. "When?"

"This morning, just after you left. Just missed you." Oh, no, no, her mind panicked. Iwasaki's father rubbed his beard as he frowned slightly. "Seemed to think Midori was over at ours, actually. Told her she wasn't, and she just hung up. Think she might have been confused... or do you think something might be up?"

He looked at Iwasaki rather concernedly, for she had paled and her mouth had gone dry. Kouta looked at her curiously, looking rather lost. When she let out the breath she'd been holding in horror, it came out, "Ohhhh nooooo..."

* * *

The moment Midori had stepped home and taken one look at Makie-san's face, she'd known immediately that something was wrong. Then she heard her mother call her name curtly from the dining room, and she somehow knew exactly what that 'something' was.

"Where were you last night?"

Her mother's usually warm face was cold and hard as she narrowed her eyes at her daughter. Midori knew it was useless to lie at this point, but she couldn't bring herself to tell her mother with any defiance where she really had been. She'd lied, and she was going to face the consequences for it.

"Were you with Seiji-kun?"

Midori said nothing, but she steeled herself to at least nod. Then her mother's eyes grew round and her pursed lips began to tremble.

"This is what I meant when I said I was worried about his influence," She said in a slightly shaking voice, and then it hit Midori just what her mother thought she'd been doing. It should have been obvious from the start, but for Midori her relationship with Seiji was still in its starting stages as far as she was concerned. He was her first love, and she was his first girlfriend, and together they'd experienced all sorts of first things new to them; holding hands had been such a significant step, and their first kiss had only happened barely two hours ago.

To think that her mother thought she and Seiji had gone so far was somehow insulting, not because Midori had anything particularly against sex itself, but because she knew that she and Seiji were cherishing something else before lust. They were taking it slowly for a good reason.

"We didn't do anything last night," Midori cut in without thinking, and as her mother turned her incredulous eyes on her she continued, her voice beginning to rise from anger, "It's not what you think. I just spent the night at his house, but we- we didn't-"

"Oh Midori," Her mother said in a tone torn between exasperation and despair, "That's not the point! You lied to me." As though it were the first time it had occurred to her properly, Midori's mother paused before saying with effort, "You've never lied to me before. I just- I don't know what to think of you anymore."

Midori's heart grew cold. Her mother rose from her seat before speaking in a gravely disappointed voice, "I don't like not knowing my daughter anymore." She began to ascend the staircase, her delicate hand holding onto the gleaming banister.

It spilled out of Midori's mouth before she could even think of stopping it: "It's not his fault." She looked up at her mother pleadingly. "You have to know that."

Her mother looked down at her from the banister, her expression unreadable. Then she sighed. "Even so," She said, "You're grounded."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting is such a pain.


	9. Chapter Nine: Dead Ends

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Nine: Dead Ends**

* * *

Sprawled on his living room floor, Seiji decided it was time to do some serious thinking. What did this whole 'targetting' business mean? Seiji was used to morons out to get him. Hell, he'd had to beat up a load of champs from different circles just to satisfy some psycho chick.

Just the idea that people were out for his neck was nothing new to him. When something concrete formed, he might able to avoid the battle if he knew about it in advance. But how would he know about it in advance? And what was the point in running away? Running away never solved things, and only extended matters excruciatingly. It was against his whole philosophy to run away.

Hanzoumon and Makube Trade schools had stopped leaving ominous messages in his desk for quite a while now. Besides, after the incident with Midori and Shin Sakura High, Seiji had been convinced that it would discourage others from pulling the same stunt. Just how determined were his enemies to finally get their revenge on him?

I said I'd protect her, Seiji thought stubbornly. He'd realised that day what the difference was between the Midori on his hand, and the real, life-size Midori. She wasn't as simple or easy to protect; he knew it already. He'd do anything to protect her.

But he hesitated, because what did that mean? Maybe he hadn't fully realised the complexities behind the meaning of protecting the real Midori. So what if he could protect Midori when he was with her? One huge difference between the two Midoris was that one had always been with him, 24/7.

But with a Midori that had to go to a different school, that had her own home to go to... There were so many times he wasn't with her.

How about the Shin Sakura incident? Seiji asked himself, did I protect her then? Well, he'd have gone as far as they'd wanted him to. Act like a dog, lick their shoes, strip naked - he'd had done anything, as long as Midori was safe. He knew from experience that when he acted low and pathetic enough, his enemies would tire of him, spit on him and leave him and his friends alone. Miyahara had been released once when Seiji had allowed himself to be beaten up instead, as proof of this ultimately saving the hostage.

But maybe it was different with Midori. Would those foul idiots from Shin Sakura have let her go once they'd seen Seiji weak and unwilling to fight back? Perhaps he'd only been lucky, Seiji realised. If Midori hadn't thrown off that student with the knife, who knew what might have happened? What if they had beat him to a pulp, and... and then... had their way with Midori?

The thought nearly made him retch; Seiji pressed his temples into his knuckles, biting his lip hard.

I am such a self-centered idiot, he thought angrily at himself, I was so wrapped up in my own damn self, I didn't even think of any danger... How many people had realised how much he cared about her, and how crushed he would be if she was harmed in any way because of him? Shingyouji was right, he'd been careless when he'd kissed her today...

The memory of the kiss rushed to his mind, and Seiji closed his eyes. The surge of emotion welling in him reminded him all too well what he already knew: he needed her. And he didn't deserve her.

Midori was always more worried for him than she was about herself, even with her own life at stake. She'd cared more for his pride than her safety, which was so utterly ridiculous to him, but seemed to make perfect sense to her. She had to take more care of herself... and it frustrated Seiji to no end that he couldn't protect her the way he'd promised he would, on the last night Midori had been on his hand.

There were no clear answers, no matter how hard he thought about it; things went in circles, and Seiji didn't know enough about the threat Shingyouji had warned him about.

There was really only one way of finding out: to find the gang that wanted him and ask them himself. Confrontations were so prone to explosions, especially when it came to Seiji, but what else could he do? Perhaps if he stood outside Ogurabashi High, they wouldn't bother waiting to 'get' him and Midori together, and would instead only attack him, and he could resolve things that way.

But would letting them beat him to a pulp satisfy them? Resolving things through violence would only lead to more violence. Seiji subconciously rubbed at his shoulder, where Midori had been treating small cuts with the first-aid kit just last night. He remembered their conversation suddenly; he remembered what his name could potentially do to Midori's reputation. Wasn't he doing no one but his own impatience a favour, by standing around by her school gates in plain view of every student there?

How was he going to do solve this? It seemed, for now, all Seiji could do was to do his best to ensure Midori's safety. And of course, he had to warn her not to go alone outside for too long, and tell her about the imminent danger that loomed ahead of them, ominous and obscure...

"Damn it!" He seethed, balling his hand into fist before slamming it onto the floor. As his coffee table rattled, Seiji slumped, his old scars on his back aching.

He had never felt more helpless.

* * *

Midori waited until she heard the showerhead running steadily for at least a minute before calling Seiji.

"Hey," Seiji said the moment he picked up, "you got home alright?"

"Well... yes, and... no."

"What? What's wrong?" He demanded.

Midori already knew what she had to tell him, but it did not make it any easier. Breathing deeply, she let it out in a sigh. "I've been grounded."

"You've been grounded?" He squawked, "What for?"

"I..."

She had been so sure she would be able to tell him the truth, but now that the moment had come she realised it wasn't that easy at all. So many people found Seiji scary, or disturbed; they never took the time to see him the way Midori could. She hated having to tell him that it was essentially because she had stayed over his house the other night - she had lied to him that her mother had given her permission, and telling him that actually her mother disapproved was quite painful.

It was frankly unfair to Seiji, in Midori's opinion. The worst part of it was that it was entirely her fault, but he wouldn't see it that way. He would blame himself, because that was the way he was, and Midori couldn't bear that.

"I... I failed a class test."

There was a pause; Midori was a terrible liar, but at the very least she knew that Seiji was a bad liar as well, and hopefully his lie detection skills weren't quite up to scratch either. She bit her lip, hating herself for lying, but knowing she would hate herself even more if the truth would only hurt him.

"You? Fail an exam?" His voice was etched in disbelief; clearly the two things did not compute in his mind. "Which exam?"

"Er- Japanese Literature."

"Why would you fail that? That's one of your best subjects!" Seiji exclaimed, but he sounded more concerned than suspicious, to Midori's great relief.

"It's not a big deal," She said reassuringly, "I think my mother just wants me to focus a little more though. Don't worry, it's not for long," She added, but inside she wondered how long her mother planned to confine her.

There was a pause in which Seiji seemed to be hesitating; then he asked uncertainly, "So... will you be escorted home from school with your chaffeur and stuff?"

"Well... I suppose so," Midori sighed, a sinking sense of disappointment that she would not be able to walk home with Seiji beginning in her stomach.

"And you won't be leaving the house much?"

"Not for anything other than school, I think."

Seiji paused; Midori felt the pit of disappointment ease just slightly as she realised that maybe Seiji was feeling just as crestfallen as she was... Then in a voice just a little too cheerful he said, "Well, alright. Good luck studying then, make sure you're at the top with all of your exams!"

Midori blinked, surprised. She'd expected Seiji to kick up more a fuss than this; at the very least, complain about the fact they wouldn't be able to date during her punishment...

"Er- we can't go on dates," She said cautiously, wondering if perhaps he hadn't quite got what being grounded meant.

"Of course not, you've been grounded, right?"

Irritation began to gnaw lightly at Midori from hearing the casual way he said it. Was there even a hint of relief, or was that her imagination?

"Well," Midori said, her voice slightly frosty, "I won't be seeing you for a while, Seiji-kun."

"Yeah... I guess so," Seiji said. Irritation built again; why was it he seemed so unconcerned?

"Is it just me, or are you-" She began heatedly, but then with a jolt of shock she realised the shower was no longer running and there were sharp raps knocking at her door. "Nevermind," She said hastily, and hung up on him before he could say anything.

Her mother came into the room, her hair still damp and her brows raised. "Midori, Makie has been calling you down to dinner for quite a while now."

Nodding, Midori stood up. As she padded towards her mother, however, her mother stopped her.

"Give me your phone."

"I- what?" She stared at her mother, uncomprehending. "Isn't being grounded enough?"

"You lied to me through that phone," Her mother said sternly, "So I'm taking that privilege from you until I see fit."

Midori wanted to argue further, but her mother gave her a steely look that brooked no argument. Biting her lip, Midori picked up her phone and pushed it into her mother's waiting hand.

The moment she'd done so, however, it began vibrate, the ringtone startling both of them into squeaks of surprise. 'Seiji-kun 3' was flashing at the front screen. Midori realised the abrupt ending to their phonecall must have worried him. A smile involuntarily lifting her lips, Midori reached out for her phone.

Her mother swiftly pulled the phone toward her, however, and with a soft click she deftly removed the battery. The ringtone stopped dead. Her mouth open, Midori stared at her mother in shock, but her mother swept her hand towards the staircase and raised an eyebrow.

Midori realised the hot, bubbling sensation in her chest was of intense anger. She had never been angry at her mother before, let alone this incensed. Unable to say a word lest she blurt out something too harmful to take back, Midori vented out her rage by storming down the stairs without a backward glance.

* * *

'This is Kasugano Midori's cellphone. I'm sorry but I am currently busy and cannot receive any calls. Please leave your name and contact number after the tone.'

Mechanically, Seiji's wrist flicked back and he pressed the 'end call' button on his cellphone before pushing redial. Then his wrist flicked back.

'This is Kasugano Midori's cellphone. I'm sorry but...'

"Sawamura-san?"

Seiji's only sign of registering the presence of his beloved underclassman was a brief glance at his face that swiftly returned to the floor and a mumble that could have been 'hey'. Miyahara frowned, crossing his arms and peering up at Seiji's depressed face.

"Sawamura-san, who have you been calling all morning and break?"

"No one."

"Is it your girlfriend? It's your girlfriend, isn't it? Did you have a fight?" Here a look of delight and glee flashed by Miyahara's face, his eyes positively sparkling as he gushed, "I mean, Sawamura-san, if you need advice, I'm totally here since, well, you know, Lucy and I are kind of official and all..."

Miyahara's spiel went on for a quite a while, which Seiji completely tuned out as he continued to mechanically redial Midori's cellphone. Miyahara only cottoned on that Seiji wasn't listening after about ten minutes of excited chatter, and he scowled.

"Sawamura-san, what's wrong?" He said bluntly.

"Nothing," Seiji muttered, his fingers subconciously clenching. His cellphone gave an ominous crack which brought Seiji hastily out of his stupor so he could check the damage done, and Miyahara took the opportunity to swipe it from him.

"Come on, Sawamura-san!" Miyahara said earnestly as Seiji made a fruitless lunge at the phone, "You're always helping me out whenever I need help."

"I don't need your help," Seiji snapped, but Miyahara looked at him skeptically. "It's none of your business!"

Miyahara frowned for a long moment, keeping the phone tightly clutched in his hand. Then he finally slapped it back into Seiji's waiting palm, asking in a slightly resigned tone, "Is there nothing I can do to help you out?"

'Not unless you can read my girlfriend's mind and find out why she hung up on me last night,' Seiji thought, but out loud all he said was, "Nope. Thanks for asking, though."

Miyahara's shoulders slumped as he started to slouch off, looking depressed. 'If only you could help me out,' Seiji thought, shaking his head, 'It's not just Midori, after all... there's so much going on... Waaait a minute!'

"Oy, Miyahara!" His underclassman whipped around, looking slightly hopeful.

"Yes, Sawamura-san?"

"There is something you can do for me, actually, if you have the time," Seiji said, and beckoned towards him conspiratorally. When their heads were close together, Seiji muttered in a low voice, "I need you to find out what's going on with all the idiots who want my neck, without raising any suspicions..."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting is seriously a pain in the _neck_!

One thing I thought I'd like to mention is the characterisation of Midori's mother. I think we'd all like to believe she didn't maintain a grudge, even after seeing the incredibly misleading situation which Seiji's 'hand' on her daughter's naked body, heh. I hope what I ended up with balances out the factors and makes sense.


	10. Chapter Ten: Frustrations

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Ten: Frustrations**

* * *

Her pocket felt empty without her cell phone, and she couldn't help patting her pocket every few minutes simply out of habit. Seiji had not mastered text messages completely yet, but he still tried one or two times a week to send her something during class. Resultantly Midori habitually checked her phone every now and then, just to see.

However, with every pat of her pocket, Midori felt a sharp twinge in her chest. Her mother had no right, she thought angrily, no right to hang up on Seiji the previous night. It had been entirely her own fault when she had stayed over at Seiji's home for the night; he didn't deserve to be treated like he was being ignored.

But then again, perhaps he did. Remembering his indifference to her situation, that slight hint of relief in his voice came to her mind, and Midori scowled to herself. Idiot Seiji, she thought annoyedly, why are you acting like you don't care...?

"Midori-chan."

Midori looked up, blinking her scowl away as she saw Iwasaki looking at her concernedly.

"Y-yes?"

"Your face is all twisted up," Iwasaki explained, and Midori blushed.

"I didn't mean to... I mean... Where is everybody?"

"Chika and Nakano left to change for swimming, and Igarashi's gone to the bathroom." Here, Iwasaki gave Midori a pointed stare. "Which you would have known if you had been paying attention, and not blankly staring into space, making weird faces at nothing."

Before Midori could claim it really was nothing, however, Iwasaki's sharp look immediately dissolved into pure guilt. "I was waiting for them to leave so I could bring this up, actually. You didn't respond to my texts last night, but I know she called my house yesterday morning. Your mother found out, right? Are you okay?"

"Oh, it's fine," Midori began, but Iwasaki's intense gaze did not look convinced. Feeling she rather owed it to her friend, especially after using her for an excuse to stay with Seiji, Midori confessed, "Actually, it's not fine. She's furious with me. She confiscated my phone last night, so I'm sorry about not responding to your texts, I didn't know you-"

"It's nothing to be sorry about!" Iwasaki cut in, and Midori realised how worried Iwasaki had been about her. 'I should have told her first thing this morning,' she berated herself, slightly ashamed. Iwasaki patted Midori on the arm, adding, "It was really bad luck that your mom called before I got home. My dad caught me coming home at 2AM once, and he confiscated my phone and grounded me for a month with no pocket money. I know how you feel."

Midori looked at her friend curiously. "What were you going home at 2AM for?"

"Er, you don't really want to know," Iwasaki said with a laugh, blushing slightly, and she pulled out her cellphone from her pocket. "D'you need to use the phone? I'll lend you mine if you like."

Midori started to reach out for it, but her grateful 'thanks' died halfway up her throat and she pulled her hand back, shaking her head.

"I... really shouldn't," She sighed softly, looking downcast, "I think I deserve what I'm getting. I want to call Seiji-kun, but... if I used your phone, I would be disrespecting my mother's intentions." She managed a watery sort of smile. "Thank you for offering anyway, though."

"Geez, Midori-chan," Iwasaki said, looking slightly exasperated but mostly amazed, "I thought you were angry at your mom."

"I am." Midori sighed. "But I did lie to her." She decided to keep her irritation at Seiji's nonchalance to herself.

* * *

Midori hated having to do this, but she felt she had no choice. She could see her usual chaffeur, Soujirou, standing by the car, amongst many other chaffeurs waiting for students by the gate of Ogurabashi High. Fortunately for her, Soujirou seemed occupied with polishing his sunglasses.

She gave him the slip by carefully walking amongst a large crowd of chattering students all the way to the takoyaki stand at the end of the street. Then she quickly - with guilt written all over her face - began walking towards the park.

The walk to Seiji's school was something she had done so many times, she entered auto-pilot mode, immersing herself in her thoughts.

Not talking to Seiji for this long was stressing her out. It was rather crazy, she realised, to think how badly she ached without him. It had barely been a day, but she was already missing him. She knew she shouldn't speak to him, so she wouldn't. But she wanted to see him, to make sure he was doing alright. It would be like one of the old days, where she would peek out at him from behind signposts and shops. That thought made her smile a little sadly.

Another part of her knew that she was also determined to see whether he was truly not caring about their situation as much as she was. Not that she wanted to see him pining for her (though that might not be so bad) - she just wanted to see if something was perhaps distracting him. She wasn't sure what she would do if Seiji walked out grinning and laughing with a bunch of pretty second-year girls. She might implode, or stab his wrist with a pen point, like the time she'd been overcome by jealousy before.

Midori stopped walking, her brow furrowing in confusion. When on earth had she ever stabbed at him with a pen? Never, she knew that. Yet the memory of having done so - at extremely close vicinity, at that - was somehow there, too. How strange, she mused. Maybe I dreamed about it before...

When she continued walking again, she realised she was already at the edge of the park. Relieved to know she would be seeing Seiji soon, Midori began to pick up her pace.

* * *

"Uhm, Iwasaki-san?"

Iwasaki looked up to see Takato, the dark-haired and quiet class president, standing aside her desk. She realised he must have been trying to get her attention for a while, because he was looking rather flustered. She couldn't help being distracted, however; she was wondering what Midori had gone off to, after such a hasty farewell.

Besides, Takato usually went home with Shinji and Kouta when he wasn't doing class representative duties after school, so she had no idea what he was approaching her for.

"What's up, class president?" She asked curiously.

"Kouta wanted me to tell you that he might not be able to make it to practice tonight." Hearing his name so unexpectedly jolted her a bit. Iwasaki had noticed that Kouta was absent that day, much to her chagrin. She normally wouldn't have noticed it at all, but somehow she'd been thinking of him more often than was normal since yesterday.

Pushing those thoughts aside abruptly, she asked, "You mean, for my dad's karate lessons?"

He nodded. "Apparently he couldn't reach your dad, so he's passing the message along through me."

"Sure." She'd have to pass the message to her dad on her phone, since she had lacrosse training in a few minutes. She was just ready to call her father, when she frowned, implications sinking in. "Takato-kun, do you know why? I mean, is something wrong with Kouta?"

"I'm not sure," Takato admitted, "He didn't sound sick, but something else might be wrong. He seemed kind of urgent when he called this morning."

She hesitated for a fraction of a second. Then she made up her mind and asked, "Could you give me his number?"

* * *

The first time it had happened, she had been caught completely unaware - they had walked casually by her before turning suddenly and wrapping something around her mouth. She barely had time to struggle before breathing in the fumes of whatever the cloth had been soaked in, and passed out almost immediately.

She thought she would be more prepared if it happened again, but things usually don't happen the same way twice. A knot of young men in unbuttoned uniform coats with obscene designs on the shirts they wore underneath were gathered by the benches around the center of the park. The moment they saw her, however, they closed in on her menacingly, forming a tight circle around her.

One person reached forward and grabbed her arm painfully. "You're Midori-chan, aren't you?"

"What do you want?" She demanded, making a futile attempt to shrug him off and trying hard not to panic. The student who had grabbed her had bleached hair swept back from his forehead, and he was piercing her with a glare. When she looked at him, something deep within her stirred. She had no idea who this person was, but for some reason she felt she almost recognised him. Had she met this person before, in yet another dream? What was going on with her memories?

"We just want to chat with you a little," The student said in an exaggeratedly innocent tone.

"Does this have something to do with Seiji-kun?" She willed her voice not to tremble. His eyes narrowed at the sound of Seiji's name.

"Maybe," He said, and he nodded to the other students. "Let's go."

Midori winced as he yanked her arm along behind him, and jerked it back. He stepped towards her with frightening speed. Startled, she let out a short scream.

"Shut up!" He hissed, grabbing her face around her mouth, and she choked mid-scream.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Midori lifted her eyes over the bleached hair obscuring her vision, struggling to get out of the student's grip. There were two young students, a girl and a boy, wearing Sakuradamon uniforms. The same school as Seiji-kun! Midori thought, her heart thumping. The person who had called out was the boy, tall and dark haired.

"None of your business, mon-kou filth," One of the burly students snarled, and the other girl stepped forward. This time, when Midori looked at her yelling at them, she felt that strange, inexplicable feeling of recognition. She knew this girl, but she had no idea how. The one thing that was clear to her, for some odd reason, was that this girl knew Seiji. Seeing her made her feel all sorts of pain inside, but also, a strange sensation of hope.

"We'll call the police!" The girl was threatening, but then one of Midori's captors grabbed the dark-haired Sakuradamon student by the collar, hoisting him up.

"Go ahead and try," He challenged, and threw the student onto the ground. The dark-haired boy got up quickly, and attempted a jab at his attacker but failed to connect. He was brutally rewarded with a punch across his jaw, and within seconds the group had gone over to start beating up the dark-haired boy.

Midori could hear the screams of the other girl as she tried in vain to stop them. The boy was making a valiant effort to fight back, but there were just too many of them. Midori's eyes darted about desperately, but there was no one else within vicinity.

The bleached-head pulled his hand away from her mouth, and gripped a fistful of the back of her hair, forcing her head up. He looked down at Midori with a twisted smile. "There's nobody around, princess. You wanna come with us quietly, or not?"

His grip had the back of her scalp burning with pain, but it was the sheer sense of helplessness that filled her eyes with tears. "I'll go," She choked out.

The bleached-head smirked, letting her go, but his eyes were dark. "That's more like it."

This person was different to Norobi, Midori realised. This person was far more dangerous. He was much stronger than he looked. She knew she was going to be used as bait again, and she couldn't stand it. If Seiji came after her, who knew what they might try this time round?

Before he could say anything else, Midori shouted, "Ayase-san!"

The girl whipped around, her eyes widening in confusion and shock. Midori was completely unaware of the fact she had just called out a name, and continued, "Tell Seiji-kun he's not to follow. Please tell him that for me."

"How useless," The bleached-head muttered, and clamping an iron grip onto Midori's wrist he yelled to the others, "We haven't got all day, you idiots. You've had your fun, now let's go."

They gave their last kicks to the battered boy before following the bleached-head and Midori. As she was pulled towards the park gates, Midori cast a helpless glance to the pair of Sakuradamon students. The dark-haired boy was sitting up with difficulty, and the girl was saying something seriously as she tended to him.

Overwhelmed with frustration and bitterness that she could do nothing alone, Midori let them drag her along, her head hung low.

* * *

Man, it felt nerve-wracking to be in a place like this. School had just ended, and Ogurabashi High students were passing by with quiet, demure postures. Sakuradamon High had had their share of occasional rich prats, but Ogurabashi High was completely populated with rich students, or incredibly smart people who had gotten there through scholarships. They practically sparkled with luxurious upbringing and wealth. Even the walls here seemed to gleam brighter.

Miyahara looked around nervously. He was wearing a long coat with the Ogurabashi High crest on it, which he had 'borrowed' (he would return it later, really) from a student napping by the frozen pond in the courtyard. The way he felt, though, he might as well paint a pumpkin green and claim it to be a watermelon. Blending in wasn't quite as easy as he'd envisioned when he first came up with this plan.

Still, Miyahara was determined to do what Sawamura had asked of him. The major tip Sawamura had received was from a friend in Ogurabashi High, who had apparently overheard plans to 'get' the Mad Dog right outside its gates. The best place to try and get information or leads would be around here, he figured.

Unfortunately, evil guys plotting revenge against Sawamura didn't exactly go around with big signs proclaiming so on their foreheads. Miyahara had no idea where his investigation should begin, even though he was within the territory.

He supposed the best thing to do would be to contact Sawamura's friend, since he'd been given his number. Shingyouji, was it? The kid might know more about where to start looking. He ducked into an empty classroom, took a few seconds the marvel at the internet port at each desk and the enormous electronic whiteboard, and then whipped out his cellphone.

"Hello?" The voice of Shingyouji was surprisingly soft and polite. Miyahara had expected some exception to the Ogurabashi High atmosphere, given that this person was obviously a good friend of Sawamura's, but he refrained from comment.

"This is Shingyouji, right?"

"Yes. May I know who-"

"I'm Miyahara, Sawamura-san's first lieutenant. Er, that is, one of his loyal underclassmen. He told me you tipped him off about some kind of plan against him, and gave me your number. Think you can help me out with any leads?"

"Oh!" The soft voice grew stronger. "Uhm, I've been tailing them for a while, actually."

Miyahara blinked. "Tailing who?"

"Well," Shingyouji spoke quickly, "I was on my way to school this morning when I saw the same students from before. I mean, the ones who were talking about plans to hurt both Sawamura-san and Midori-chan. I overheard them talking about those two again."

Midori-chan? Miyahara supposed that was Sawamura's girlfriend, but Shingyouji's hurried explanation didn't give him much time to confirm.

"I've been following them all day," Shingyouji continued, "I was trying to pick up more hints, but all they did was waste time in the arcades and play billiards. They wasted my time, too, as a result..." He groaned here disappointedly.

"Did you lose them?" Miyahara asked, wondering what kind of perseverence it took to follow someone - especially someone who was an ugly git more likely than not - all morning and afternoon.

"Well, not exactly. They actually came back to Ogurabashi, and left their things in an old locker room in the D wing. They will be back soon, though. I heard they were waiting for someone to arrive soon, so they can talk about something in detail, but I'm not sure what it is."

'Brilliant,' Miyahara thought, 'This is it!'

"Where exactly is this D wing and locker room?"

"A-are you going to come to Ogurabashi?" Shingyouji sounded surprised.

"I'm actually already in it," Miyahara said, laughing a little embarrassedly, "Though I admit I stick out like a sore thumb. Never mind that, I need to do some real spying on these guys. I'm awkward enough here as it is, and Sawamura-san told me not to raise suspicions."

"If you can tell me where you are at Ogurabashi," Shingyouji suggested, "I can give you directions to where I am."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformat! It amuses me that you don't see Seiji at all in this chapter, and neither does Midori. By the way, in case anyone is curious, all the names I used for Midori's school friends and Kouta's school friends are actually in the manga, mostly mentioned in passing.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Crossing the Line

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Eleven: Crossing the Line**

* * *

"Lean on me, senpai."

"Eh? I couldn't-" Narushima looked quite surprised and embarrassed, but Ayase glared at him in a way that clearly told him not to argue. Turning a little pink and looking reluctant, he draped his arm over her shoulders, and she heaved them both up onto their feet. He swayed a little unsteadily for a moment, but then managed to keep balanced.

"We should get to the medical room at school for your cuts," Ayase said, her tone business-like, and they began to walk back towards Sakuradamon High.

"That girl was wearing an Ogurabashi High uniform," Narushima said, and he looked at Ayase with concern. "She called your name, didn't she? Do you know her, Ayase-san?"

"I-I don't." When that girl had called out her name, it had surprised her immensely. She had never seen that girl before... Wait a minute. She had asked her to talk to Sawamura. And Sawamura's girlfriend was from Ogurabashi, wasn't she? How on earth had that girl known her name, though? Had Sawamura talked about her, and shown her photograph at some point? But why would he do that?

"You look like you've just realised something." Narushima's voice snapped Ayase out of her thoughts.

"Y-yes. I don't really know her, but I know who she is. She's Sawamura's girlfriend."

"He has a lot of enemies, doesn't he," He remarked, and looked surprised when Ayase responded sharply,

"He doesn't mean to make enemies! They just keep challenging him because he's strong, and he's always forced to beat them up to protect other people. Sawamura is really a good person, it's just that people don't see that, because they don't give him a chance, and-"

"Ayase-san, calm down!" Narushima interrupted, his eyes wide, "I'm not insulting Sawamura-san. I know people have been really judgemental to him, but I like to think I'm not one of them. Sawamura-san never makes trouble by himself, and a lot of upperclassmen respect him. We all know how much he's settled down these days."

Ayase looked at Narushima for a moment, searching him to see if he was telling the truth or placating her. When she saw that he was genuinely surprised at her outburst, and that he was being completely honest with her, she felt herself relax a little.

Then she realised, with their faces this close, she could see that he really was good looking. Even with the bruise forming on his cheek and the slight tear on his lower lip that was swelling out, his features were sharp, and his eyes were so warm...

Then she realised that he was still looking at her worriedly, and she was now thinking of something else rather inappropriate. She felt her face flush.

"I'm sorry, senpai," Ayase said hastily, casting her eyes elsewhere, "I was over-reacting."

"It's alright," Narushima said, sounding relieved, and then he chuckled. "That's one of your best traits, Ayase-san."

"What do you mean?" She looked at him again, her embarrassment forgotten, and he was blushing slightly.

"Well, that is... you're someone who can't stand unfair situations. You always want to make sure justice is served."

"But you're like that too, senpai," She pointed out, "When you heard that girl scream, you immediately tried to stop those students from doing whatever they were planning."

"Ah," He said, and he looked at the ground, his cheeks red and his brows furrowed. "But Ayase-san, I failed so badly, and they still dragged her away. It was really not cool of me. I must look really lame to you."

"Not at all!" She said honestly, "I'm really impressed you got up and tried to fight back so many times. They were the cowards, needing so many to fight against one person."

For a moment, he just gazed at her. She felt her face warm, and turned her face away, wondering why she felt so shy all of a sudden.

"Thank you, Ayase-san," Narushima said earnestly, smiling, "That makes me feel a lot better. But really, your bravery is what inspires me to try and be like that at all. It's one of the things I really like about you."

"You- you shouldn't say things like that with such a straight face, senpai," She muttered, still looking away.

"Did I say something wrong? I-I'm sorry," Narushima stammered, panicking a little, but she just shook her head. She didn't want him - or anyone, really - to see how crimson her face was.

"Should we call the police?" He asked, and Ayase shook her head again.

"It was an empty threat, actually. The police will only complicate things. Once Sawamura finds out about his girlfriend, he'll go to save her no matter what, from what I know about him. But I think I should try to pass on his girlfriend's message, anyway. Right now," She looked at Narushima's hand, still clutching at his side, "let's take of senpai, first."

* * *

With Shingyouji's directions, Miyahara found his way down to the lower floors of the Eastern building.

'This place is friggin' huge!' Miyahara thought, craning his neck around and looking to make sure he wasn't being followed, and then he quickly walked down D wing. A small, scrawny sort of boy with dark hair in Ogurabashi High uniform stood at the end of it.

"Miyahara-san?" The boy prompted, and Miyahara recognised the voice.

"You're Shingyouji?" He tried not to sound too incredulous, but the little pipsqueak looked like what Sawamura's weakest adversaries ate for breakfast.

"It's nice to meet you," Shingyouji said with a smile, and Miyahara fought down an urge to slap himself for finding the boy cute. Geez, he had a girly countenance.

"I was thinking we could probably wait in the next classroom, and hope to overhear something from the upper windows," Shingyouji said, pushing open a classroom door, but Miyahara shook his head.

"You can't hear squat from that kind of position," Miyahara said bluntly, "Which locker room is it?"

"Uhm, this one." He opened the next door, and Miyahara peered in. Bags were strewn all over the place, as well as old baseball bats. His eyes were drawn to the lockers, however. They resembled large refrigerators lined up neatly against the walls.

"Are any of these lockers empty?"

"They should be," Shingyouji said, looking confused, "They're going to renovate everything in the D wing next week, so..."

"Perfect." Rubbing his hands together, Miyahara walked over to the locker closest to the door, and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge.

"You need an Ogurabashi High student card to open it," Shingyouji said, pointing at a slot at the side of the locker door, and Miyahara held a hand out.

"Gimme yours."

Shingyouji fumbled with his wallet, and slid out a shiny plastic card. Miyahara snorted with laughter when he looked at the photograph in it.

"Man, you look great in this!" He snickered, laughing at the horrible lighting, bowl-head haircut and half-blinking expression, and Shingyouji cringed as he tried to swipe it back.

"Don't make fun of me!" He said hotly, and though he was clearly trying to glare Miyahara down, it was failing rather miserably.

"Alright, alright, chill out," Miyahara said, still grinning, and he inserted the card into the little slot. One beep later, the card popped back out, and some mechanical whirring and a click sounded. This time, when he pulled at the door, he succeeded. The locker was indeed bare.

"Great! Man, these things are so huge, it looks like more than one person can fit in," Miyahara said cheerfully.

"You're not planning to hide in there, are you?" Shingyouji gasped, his eyes widening.

"Sure I am," Miyahara said easily as he clambered in, "Why not? I'll be able to hear most of what they're saying from here."

"B-but- What if something goes wrong, and you're found out?" Miyahara stared as Shingyouji began flailing, panicking out loud, "I mean, what if you sneeze, or if you cough? One of the three things in the world you can't stop is a cough!"

"What're the other two things?" Miyahara asked interestedly.

"Uhm, I think it was human stupidity and a slow internet connection," Shingyouji said, pausing from his panic mode to think. Then he said frantically, "But that's not the point!"

"Look, I'm not gonna get caught, alright?"

"But-"

A boom of laughter echoed down the hallway, and Shingyouji froze.

* * *

Seiji kept thinking he had to go to the park out of habit, but he knew Midori would be taken home by her chaffeur for the next few days.

It had been the only consolation he'd had for the day, knowing that Midori would at least be taken home safely, even if there were a bunch of dangerous idiots out for his neck. It would be a lot easier to deal with this mess once he got more information about this impending threat to him. He only hoped Miyahara didn't do anything stupid and get caught himself, but then recently he'd grown quite adept at running away, so Seiji knew he could put his faith into the underclassman.

As Seiji wandered out into the courtyard of Sakuradamon, wondering why Midori's cellphone wasn't working, he heard Ayase yell behind him,

"Wait up, Sawamura!"

He turned around, blinking in surprise. "Ayase? What's up?"

She was breathing hard; apparently she had run all the way down the steps to catch up to him. "Sawamura, your girlfriend. She's in trouble."

He stared at her, a cold feeling beginning to sink into his stomach. "What do you mean?"

"I was at the park a few minutes ago, and she was being dragged away by some scary looking guys," She said, trying to speak quickly, "They looked like Makube Trade and Hanzoumon students, but Narushima-senpai thinks some of them were from Shin Sakura, too."

Though he didn't have a clue who Narushima was, that was no where no the priority in Seiji's mind that moment. "How do you know it was her?"

"I- I'm not sure. She called my name, and asked me to tell you something." Ayase looked at him confusedly. "She... has green hair, right? Quite small and petite?"

His chest gave a painful throb. "Yeah, that's her," Seiji managed, his mind spinning. What had Midori been doing at the park, instead of going home? How had she known Ayase? And who the hell had taken her away yet again? He wasn't sure where to even begin, but he tried to keep his mind steady. "Where- where did they take her?"

"I don't know. They were headed for the west park gate, but... I-I'm sorry, Sawamura. I wish we could have stopped them, but they were too strong." She looked ashamed, but Seiji waved that away impatiently.

"It doesn't matter. Thanks for telling me." Makube Trade probably still had their hideout by the old bowling alley. Seiji knew it wasn't much to go on, but it was somewhere to start.

"Uhm, Sawamura... she wanted me to tell you to not follow her."

Seiji whipped around, his face of utter bewilderment. "What?"

Ayase looked apprehensive. "I think she was just worried for you."

And that was just like Midori, to worry about him more than herself. Seiji slapped a palm to his face, trying to keep his temper cool because the enormity of the situation was finally beginning to catch up to him.

She had been kidnapped, again. What did they want from him so badly that they would keep threatening to hurt her? She had nothing to do with his violent tendencies or enemies; the only thing she had done was fall for him. He had done nothing to deserve her, yet here he was, once again, in a situation where she was more worried for him than herself. How could he let this happen again? How pathetic was he?

This was weird, though. Why hadn't anyone contacted him? Why was there no lame challenge letter tucked into his desk, or any threatening calls or texts?

"You're going no matter what, though, aren't you?" Ayase was looking at him intently, her eyes bright with conviction, and Seiji remembered where he was. Whining to himself was no good. He had to go rescue Midori as fast as he possibly could.

"Of course!" Seiji exclaimed, and he nodded at her. "Thanks, Ayase."

She was about to reply, but he was already sprinting towards the gates.

* * *

Miyahara could hear the cluster of footsteps growing louder every second. Thinking fast, he grabbed Shingyouji - who let out a little squeak of surprise - and pulled him into the locker, before shutting the door as quietly as he could.

The only light came from a single opening at the top of the locker door, thin and long like a letterbox slot, enclosing them in almost utter darkness. It somehow made it the situation much more awkward, because the locker wasn't quite as big as Miyahara had thought, and Shingyouji was rather uncomfortably mashed up against him.

It was too late to do anything about it now, though. The next moment, the room was suddenly filled with a powerful whiff of cigarette smoke, and the loud scrape of chairs against the floor sounded. They were chortling over something.

"Unbelievable," Someone with a low voice said, sounding highly amused, "Kid was practically crapping himself!"

"We was only asking where the bathroom was, too," Said another voice, this one quite high and scratchy, "Pathetic. Ogurabashi is full of them rich idiots. Oh, except for you, Yoshi."

This brought a new bout of chuckling, but Miyahara was paying attention to the fact they were clearly not from Ogurabashi - except for this one kid, 'Yoshi'. He surmised they were probably from Hanzoumon, or Makube Trade, two of Sawamura's main enemies. In the sliver of light they had, Miyahara could just make out Shingyouji's eyes, looking rather grim.

"So where the hell is Kiriyama?" A husky voice asked, sounding irritated and twitchy. "Isn't he supposed to be back with the girl by now?"

Who was Kiriyama? Miyahara wondered if this was the person who was orchestrating this whole thing again Sawamura, but he didn't recognise the name.

Someone's phone rang. The first person who had spoke, with the low voice, chuckled, "Speak of the devil," before answering it.

"Hey, Kiriyama. Everyone wants to know what's happening. Wait, what? Say that again." A long pause. "Dude, you said we weren't gonna have to face that monster." Another long pause. "I guess that makes sense. Right, later."

There was a click of a cellphone snapping shut, and then the voice announced: "Kiriyama said the Mad Dog's got our scent."

"Hah!" Someone exclaimed, "No one stands a chance against the Mad Dog, from what I hear. You're all screwed."

"Shut the hell up, Yoshizaka," The husky voice said sharply, and it sounded like a chair was being knocked over when something clattered loudly on the floor.

"It doesn't matter," The low voice said, cutting into whatever retort was coming, "Kiriyama said he has the girl. So that's gone smoothly. We just need to have some lookouts spread around this place, in case Mad Dog comes looking for her here."

"He wouldn't know we're staging something in this school, though," The high and scratchy voice said, but the low voice replied,

"Apparently, Kiriyama's got a hunch he'll be finding out a bit too soon. We gotta be ready just in case. So tell us, Yoshi. Where should we go to cover all the bases?"

'Yoshi' turned out to be Yoshizaka, the voice who had said they were screwed. In a reluctant voice that sounded like it was being spoken through clenched teeth, Yoshizaka muttered, "If you look at this map, we're currently over here. If you want to make sure he doesn't slip past you, you need to cover the front entrance here, and the back stairwell here..."

He went on for a while, and Miyahara grew rather bored. He had no idea what they were talking about without being able to see it. He glanced down at Shingyouji, wondering how he was coping with the situation, and was startled. Shingyouji's eyes were wide with shock, his teeth biting down hard on his lower lip. Then Miyahara realised that this Yoshizaka was the one person who was supposed to be from Ogurabashi. Perhaps Shingyouji knew him?

"Let's go," The low voice said, and there was a short cacophony of scraping chairs and rustling of bags.

Suddenly, Yoshizaka demanded, "What's this thing about 'the girl'?"

"None of your business, Yoshi," The husky voice snarled, but Yoshizaka cut in,

"I need to know what you're doing this time. What am I helping out with now? If it's too deplorable, then I-"

"Then you'll what?" The low voice didn't need volume to sound menacing. "Then you'll let Kiriyama show the world how filthy you are?"

There was a pause, and then Yoshizaka spoke again, his voice shaking. "I- I just want to know."

"Once you know, you can't back out," The low voice said, no longer laden with threat but now actually amused, "You'll have to take part."

"I-I want to know," Yoshizaka repeated, no longer sounding quite as convinced.

It was with a laugh that the low voice relayed the gist of the plan to Yoshizaka, and unwittingly to the ears of two young men hiding in the locker. Miyahara felt his jaw drop, and Shingyouji next to him began to tremble slightly.

"That's- th-that's-" Yoshizaka spluttered, apparently unable to comprehend what he had been told fully, and then he let out a yelp.

"Like I said, now that you know, you gotta come with us."

The footsteps trooped out, leaving only the acrid smell of cigarettes behind. For a full minute, Miyahara and Shingyouji waited to make sure no one returned. When nothing happened, Miyahara let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.

"I-I don't believe it," Shingyouji whispered, and Miyahara thought he could detect some anger through the shock. "Yoshizaka... He just went along with them, too? How could he? And this is Midori-chan we're talking about. Oh God, Midori-chan!"

"We don't have much time," Miyahara said urgently, "We have to tell Sawamura-san immediately. Let's go!"

"Uhm, Miyahara-san?" Shingyouji said nervously, "I think you locked us in."

Miyahara stared at Shingyouji with the sparse light they had. "You're kidding, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, Miyahara shoved his weight against the door of the locker, but it wouldn't move. Though it was difficult in the confined space to get much power, he tried kicking it, to no avail. Ramming his fist against the door, Miyahara let out a groan.

"Aww, geez! You mean I'm really stuck in this way-too-close-for-comfort position with this pretty boy for God knows how long?"

"Hey!"

"I've gotta at least call him!"

Miyahara pulled out his phone, ignoring Shingyouji's latest poor attempt at a glare.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: And on the reformatting goes.

This chapter has a lot of interaction between characters that doesn't happen much, if at all, in the series. Because of that, it took several rewrites to get it working right. Narushima and Ayase are difficult to write, because they are still reserved with each other, but Ayase still has a kind of rowdy character. Miyahara and Kouta, on the other hand, are connected by the thread that is Seiji. As a result, even though they're total strangers, they can get along with each other relatively well.

What originally happened in the locker scene was actually quite an interesting situation, but I changed it for various reasons. Just know that, originally, there was another person who got stuck in that locker with Kouta and Miyahara, amusingly enough.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Doors and Hallways

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Twelve: Doors and Hallways**

* * *

Midori could not contain her surprise when her captors led her back to Ogurabashi High. She asked, "What are we doing here?"

The bleached-head only said, "We have our reasons." His grip on her arm had her hand going numb, so she didn't try asking again.

The sun was hanging low in the sky by now, and Midori could see her breath mist before her eyes more clearly than before. The roads and buildings were awash with a pale light that was growing rapidly duller, and were remarkably devoid of people or traffic. Her sense of helplessness was slowly ebbing, and she was now trying to figure out what she could do to get out of this situation.

Extra-curricular activities were probably still going on, so Midori tried to look for other Ogurabashi students. However, their route did not go by the front gates. Instead, they circled around the school walls, and Midori found herself being pulled roughly through the back gate of the second tennis court at the far side of the school.

She couldn't understand how this was possible; no one had the keys to the back gates unless they were sports team captains or management officers. They were either very talented at picking locks, or someone inside Ogurabashi was helping them.

Though she had no idea what they were doing at Ogurabashi, this had to be her chance. This was her school, after all. Outrunning them was an impossible feat, but if she picked the right place to get away, she could use the shortcuts between extensions to get to the main building. Even if she couldn't run that far, she was bound to meet another Ogurabashi student or a teacher. It was too bad she didn't have her cellphone with her, but that couldn't be helped.

As they arrived at the landing of the back stairwell of the Southern building, Midori let out a scream, tugging her previously limp arm back towards her violently.

"It hurts!" She shrieked, causing her captors to turn to her in alarm, "You're hurting me! Please, let go, let go!"

Midori clutched at her arm with her other hand, sniffling and whimpering, and bleached-head loosened his grip.

"Stop whining, Princess, I'm not-" He began snapping, but she didn't let him finish. Pulling her arm out of his slackened fingers, she ducked out from the group of captors between someone's legs and hurried across the hall of empty offices. It did not take them long to shout and give chase.

The thundering footsteps behind her did nothing to calm her heart, which was threatening to burst her throat; she tried to keep her head as she flung open the door at the end of the hall, threw herself before the front stairwell, and ran for it.

* * *

Seiji had just reached the park when his cellphone rang. He yanked it out, his eyes darting to the screen in urgency, but it was only Miyahara. He answered it quickly, meaning to make a quick job of it.

"Miyahara, did you find out anything?"

"Sawamura-san!" Miyahara sounded weirdly muffled. "You have to come to Ogurabashi High, quick!"

"Why?" Seiji asked, stopping in mid-run, his heart sinking, "Don't tell me I gotta go save you, too."

"What? No! Well, maybe later, you can get me out of this sort of awkward situation. Ah, nevermind that! Sawamura-san, I heard what they're planning for you. I know what they want to do, and they want to do it in Ogurabashi. You have to come and save your girlfriend before it's too late!"

"What are you talking about?" Seiji demanded, now confused, "Is something-"

"Sawamura-san!" Seiji blinked.

"Shingyouji? You're with Miyahara?"

"Please listen to me," Kouta said urgently, "they're not using Midori-chan as bait, this time. This is worse than that."

"What?" Seiji couldn't understand what could be worse, until Kouta spilled out in a rush of words something he had never imagined his enemies would go so far to do. His eyes widened as his face rapidly paled. Now he knew why there had been no threats or challenges.

"I think they're going to use the rooms that will be renovated soon, but nearly all the basement wings are getting renovated," Kouta went on, "So once you get here, Sawamura-san, call me, because things are quite complicated. I'll tell you where to go. Please hurry!"

His mind was growing numb; he didn't know how to process the information he had just learned. This was almost too much for him to handle; if he let himself absorb it all at once, he had a feeling he might actually kill someone.

No, he told himself, just keep Midori in your head. Forget what you just heard, for now. She needs you, and that's all that matters.

"Got it," Seiji said shortly, and shoving the phone into his pocket, he ran for all he was worth towards Ogurabashi High.

* * *

Because it was exam period, only the hard-core players had turned up for lacrosse training, so they had ended it earlier than usual. Leaning against her locker, Iwasaki took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She knew she'd been distracted throughout training, however, because of Kouta.

Why she was getting this worked up over a simple phonecall was beyond her. It's just calling Kouta to satisfy a simple curiousity, she told herself, what's the big deal? Just call him!

Before she could change her mind, she grabbed her cellphone from her locker and found his number.

"H-Hello?"

"Kouta, th-this is Iwasaki." To her mortification, her words were stumbling in her rush to get them out, so she tried to slow down. "Takato-kun told me you couldn't come to my dad's practice today, so I was wondering why. Are you okay?"

"Ah, Iwasaki-san!" She realised he kind of sounded like he was squished against something. "Uhm, yes. I had something to do, because a close friend of mine is in danger, so... But, er, I'm also in a very... uh, uncomfortable situation. Where are you?"

"I'm at school," She said, slightly taken aback by the unexpected question, "Lacrosse training just ended."

"Oh!" He sounded immensely relieved. "I see! Uhm, do you need to go home now?"

Someone hollered in the background, "Do you need to be so polite? Just ask her to get us out right now!"

"What's going on?" She asked, now alarmed.

"Er, could you do me a favour, please?" Kouta asked in a cowed voice, "Could you come down to the old locker rooms in the D wing?"

Iwasaki wanted to asked more questions, but she figured going would get answers faster. She replied,

"I'll be right there."

* * *

Her stamina began to fail her as she climbed flight after flight; the pounding feet and noisy breaths behind her were sure to catch up any second. On the third floor, Midori knew this had a landing that connected to the Eastern building, and she wrenched the door open.

The lights in the stairwell, bright white fluourescent light that created sharp shadows, spilled into the grey hallway and dissolved in it. The lights here were duller, and reflected off the blue-grey walls depressingly. An Ogurabashi student was leaning casually against one of these walls, and as she ran towards him she even recognised the layered bangs and coffee-coloured hair. It was the tennis team captain that Chika and Igarashi found so good-looking.

'He can help me!'

The thought was so relieving, she would have smiled if she wasn't panting so hard. When he turned around, however, at the sound of the door banging on the wall, his face grew white and he took a step backward, gasping, "K-Kasugano-san!"

Though slightly confused, Midori was too tired to think, and she grasped at his shirt as she breathed, "Yoshizaki-san- please- help. Call- someone-"

Behind her, the footsteps slowed to a still. Only one pair of footsteps continued towards her, but Midori didn't care now. So long as someone knew she was in trouble, they would call for help from authoratarian figures, she was sure of it. She looked up into the eyes of the tennis team captain, hoping to communicate her thoughts, but she stopped and stared.

He was looking not at her but at the person behind her with a sense of fear, but most alarmingly, recognition. She turned around to see the bleached head, approaching them with light footsteps but narrow eyes.

"Thanks, Yoshi," He said, his tone low and even, "I heard from Hanabishi that you've agreed to join in on the fun. Good for you. You can give her back, now."

Yoshizaka spoke in a shaky voice. "Y-you said it wasn't going to be anything drastic. You p-promised me."

Midori suddenly realised, 'The back gate to the tennis court!' Yoshizaka, the tennis team captain, had access to those keys... She stumbled away from him, staring at him disbelievingly, and into bleached-head's waiting hands. He gripped her wrists behind her back so tightly his nails were digging into her pulse, and she winced. This close, she could hear him controlling his rapid breathing, made fast from all the running.

"I guess it's a matter of opinion," Bleached-head said slowly, "After all, it only sucks to be either dear Midori-chan," - and he shook her here for emphasis painfully - "or Mad Dog in this case. Everyone else wins."

"Still, this is going too far, Kiriyama!" Yoshizaka's voice rose a notch, but bleached-head - or rather, Kiriyama - cut in coldly,

"That's enough snivelling. If you're not gonna join the party, then stay put like the good little boy you are, and don't spoil it. If you even try, you know what I'll do, Yoshi. You'll lose it all."

Yoshizaka's defiance had been flickering with every word, but at the last few words it went completely dead. Lowering his head, Kiriyama slackened his tense stance, and nodded. With a jerk of his head, Kiriyama led the group onward, back down the stairwell, dragging Midori along by her wrists.

"By the way, Princess," Kiriyama said without looking back at her, "I'll be giving you plenty to really scream about soon enough. Don't waste your breath trying to pull another stunt like that again."

Midori didn't have the energy to even try figuring out what he meant by that, let alone scream anymore.

* * *

The locker room had a lingering smell of cigarette smoke; Iwasaki crinkled her nose as soon as she entered it.

"Uhm, over here!" A voice whimpered, somewhere to her left, but she saw no one in the room. When she heard metallic knocking, however, she located the source almost immediately.

"What the hell are you doing in a locker?" Iwasaki asked, frowning, and Kouta only pleaded,

"Please get us out." Out of the long, thin opening at the top of the locker door, Kouta's student card peeked out. Rather bewildered but also bemused at the situation, Iwasaki took the card.

"I suppose there's a rational explanation as to why you're in a locker, and not at the dojo?"

"Y-yes," Kouta replied hesitantly.

"You've got an exam next week, haven't you? For your first belt." Iwasaki frowned at the locker door, as though she could see Kouta through it. "What could be so important that you'd skip practice for it?"

"I assure you, it's very important, Iwasaki-san." He sounded completely serious, and she found it difficult to retort to that. Instead, she said a little teasingly,

"When I let you out, you have to do something for me, okay?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Oh, I don't know," She said thoughtfully, grinning as she spoke, "I'll have to think about it, I guess. I might ask for a really expensive meal, or a nice pair of shoes, or something like that. In any case, you'll owe me a big favour. Okay?"

"Y-you're being mean, Iwasaki-san!" Kouta's voice came tearfully, "You're taking advantage of this situation!"

"Of course I am," She said, laughing. Kouta began to reply, but was interrupted by an unfamiliar male voice.

"Okay, deal, Shingyouji will lick your boots if he has to. Fantastic. Now could you two stop flirting, and just let us out?"

Iwasaki felt blood rush to her cheeks, and barely managed to bite back the response that had been on her tongue - 'We're not flirting!' - and instead, though rather confused at the fact there was another person here, she popped Kouta's card into the locker door slot. A click sounded, and she pulled the door open.

She stared as Kouta tumbled out with an unfamiliar, spiky-haired guy. He sighed in great relief, pulling off an Ogurabashi long coat, and she saw he was wearing a different uniform underneath it.

"Thank God!" The guy exclaimed, "I thought I was gonna have to stay in there forever with this guy."

"Thank you," Kouta mumbled, accepting his card back from Iwasaki, "I'm sorry to trouble you like this."

She just continued to stare, open-mouthed, her mind conjuring the most inappropriate images as it tried to work out why these two male teenagers had been in a locker together.

Neither guy noticed at first, both still stretching their limbs, but when they saw the look on her face they both burst into simultaneous, furious denial.

"W-wait a minute! There's a good reason we were in that locker, okay? It's not whatever you seem to be thinking!" The stranger exclaimed, his face blanching.

Kouta, on the other hand, had grown red. "P-p-please don't think weirdly of this! We were spying on some people so we had to hide to do it, but we accidentally locked ourselves in, th-that's all!"

A little overwhelmed, Iwasaki just shook her head as she said, "Okay, whatever you say."

Kouta looked like he wanted to try convincing her further, but the stranger suddenly gasped, "Wait a second, this isn't the time to be talking!"

"Sawamura-san should call any minute now," Kouta said, and as if on cue, his phone began to ring. He answered it promptly, his eyes turning grim, and Iwasaki took the opportunity to get acquainted with the stranger.

"I'm Iwasaki Beniko," She said, "Kouta's classmate."

"Oh, I should've said this earlier," The stranger said apologetically, "I'm Miyahara Osamu, from Sakuradamon High. I just met Shingyouji today. Seriously, thanks for getting us outta there!"

"Sakuradamon? That's Ma- er, Sawamura-san's school, isn't it?"

"Yup!" Miyahara gave her a huge grin as he pointed to himself. "You're lookin' at his first lieutenant!" Hm. He looked kind of weak, but then again, if her years of watching her father's disciples at the karate dojo meant anything at all, you could never judge strength by just looks.

"So Miyahara-san, Kouta and Sawamura-san are all involved in something important, right?" She asked, and Miyahara glanced at the door, his cheerful demanor diminishing.

"We're on a rescue mission to save Sawamura-san's girlfriend," He explained, "But we don't have a lot of time."

A jolt ran through her as her eyes widened.

"Is Midori-chan in trouble?" She demanded to know, but just then Kouta - having just finished his call - cut in,

"I've told Sawamura-san to search the wings at the opposite end of Ogurabashi. We'll keep to this side, Miyahara-san, and search it thoroughly. We need to watch out for lookouts, and we'll contact each other the moment we find her."

"Gotcha," Miyahara said, and he took off. Kouta was just about to follow, but Iwasaki grabbed his shirt, jerking him back.

"Wait! Tell me, Kouta. What's going on? What does this have to do with Midori-chan?"

She could see the conflict in his eyes, obviously trying to decide whether to tell her the whole story or not, but she looked him in the eye with all the intensity she could muster. Finally, he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

"There's no time, Iwasaki-san," He said, "I'll explain it on the way. Just come with me."

She decided that sounded fair enough, and together, they ran down the hallway.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting. And can you guess who the third person who got stuck in the locker with Kouta and Miyahara was now, in my first draft of this scene?


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Hurting

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Thirteen: Hurting**

* * *

Following Kouta's directions, Seiji whizzed past the first floor and entered the sports hall, a massive, glossy and brightly lit arena twice the size of the Sakuradamon gymnasium. According to Kouta, the other end of the sports hall opened up to the Western building, and one floor down from there was a parting to the left or right - the A and B wings. Midori could be in either wing, in any of the tens of rooms, and Seiji was already feeling desperately out of time.

As he skid to the end of the gleaming floors, a bunch of upset Ogurabashi basketball players insisted on knowing why a Sakuradamon student was ruining their sports hall with his school shoes, but Seiji only growled (he had been attempting to explain, really) before pushing them aside roughly. He sprinted into the Western building, where, to his consternation, he was stopped again by an elderly looking woman.

"You don't look like an Ogurabashi High student. Who are you, boy, and why are you running in the hallway?" She asked in a frail voice, her wrinkled eyes innocently curious.

Feeling that to push her roughly aside would be akin to drowning kittens, he only said shortly, "I'm sorry ma'am, I'm in a rush," as he sidled past her carefully, and then continued to run onwards.

He was trying hard not to think, because the boiling anger at the pit of his stomach could consume him. But when he met his next obstacle at the stairwell Kouta had indicated, Seiji was reminded forcefully of what Midori was up against. Two students in Hanzoumon uniforms were sitting on the steps, but at the sound of footsteps they glanced up. Upon registering who their intruder was, they shot to their feet, their hands tightening on their baseball bat handles.

Seiji knew they were the lookouts that Kouta had warned him about, but his mind was far more focused on the fact that Midori was probably fighting tooth and nail against these kind of people. And he knew she wouldn't be able to last long at all.

"Get out of the way," Seiji rasped, barely able to control his voice. His fists were clenched so tightly, he knew he was taking the skin off his palms with his fingernails, but he couldn't care less at this moment. His eyes were blazing into his opponents so piercingly, they were rooted to the spot with fear for a moment.

Remembering their roles, however, they lost their heads completely and charged at him. They swung their bats wildly, and Seiji ducked them easily. Before they could swing their bats back for another blow, Seiji swiftly socked one of them in the gut with enough force to throw the guy off his feet, and jammed his elbow into the other person's face. Though they fell to the ground with loud thuds, one still stood up quickly enough to whack Seiji in the ribs with his bat.

Cursing out loud, Seiji barreled into his attacker with his shoulder, slamming him against the wall. He quickly spun around to kick the other guy, who had just attempted to punch the back of Seiji's head, and grabbing the one against the wall he hurled him into his partner. They both crashed down the stairwell with a series of pained yelps before lying in a motionless heap at the bottom.

Seiji rubbed at his ribs, furious with himself for letting a flunkie like that bruise him. Though he hadn't vented out enough of his rage, his priority was Midori. Maybe once he knew for sure that she was safe, he would let himself go all out in punishing the losers. He jumped over his defeated attackers and had just started to run down the stairs, when he heard one of the Hanzoumon students wheeze with laughter,

"He's wastin' his time..."

Seiji halted halfway down, and bolted right back up to force that student up by the collar. "What do you mean?" He demanded, and the student - it was the one Seiji had elbowed in the face, so there was a bloody mess around his nose - gave a broken grin, staying silent. Seiji, with great difficulty, quelled the urge to punch the guy in the face one more time.

"If you don't elaborate," Seiji growled instead, grabbing one of the baseball bats that had rolled down with the attackers, "I'll smash this right where it hurts."

The broken grin collapsed into a look of utter horror. "Y-you wouldn't."

"Oh, I would," Seiji said easily, and gripping the bat tightly, he snapped his arm back with alarming speed, his eyes narrowed with an evil, calculating glint on a certain spot at the student's lower half of the body.

"I'll talk!" The Hanzoumon student yelped in panic, "I'll talk, so cool it, okay?" Seiji didn't look appeased at all, so he rapidly squeaked, "The girl's not here! She's not in this building. You're in the wrong place!"

"Then where is she?" Seiji thundered, his eyes burning into his informant.

"I-I don't know!" He whimpered, "I s-swear I don't know. O-only Hanabishi-san and Kiriyama-san know. O-oh, and Y-Yoshizaka."

"Who the hell are they?"

"Ha-Hanabishi-san is the new Shin Sakura High gang leader. Yoshizaka is some Ogurabashi dweeb Kiriyama-san has the goods on."

"Who the hell is this Kiriyama?"

"N-none of us really know!" Judging by the way his informant was cowering when Seiji tried feinting with the baseball bat again, Seiji thought he probably was telling the truth. Kiriyama... why did it sound kind of familiar? Suddenly, a white-hot, sick feeling shot through Seiji's stomach as he thought, 'It can't be...'

"This Kiriyama," Seiji muttered, "It's not Kiriyama Satoshi... is it?"

"I-I think it is."

'Damn it, Kiriyama,' Seiji thought angrily, 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'

"Where are they?" He snarled out loud, "Tell me where the hell they are!"

"Ki-Kiriyama-san is with the g-girl. I don't know where they are, I swear I don't. Hanabishi-san said he would be walking around, so I d-don't know where he is, either." Seiji's eye twitched dangerously, so he squealed, "B-but Yoshizaka, he's probably still on lookout duty. H-he should be at the Eastern building, at the landing that connects to some other building. I d-don't know much more than that. I swear."

Finally satisfied, Seiji slammed his informant's head into the concrete with relish, knocking him out for the count.

* * *

When they finally reached their destination, Kiriyama thew his captive unceremoniously into a room.

"Get the equipment," He muttered to the others, his eyes on Midori struggling to get to her feet on her shaking knees, "Hanabishi'll know where they are." When they looked at each other shiftily, as though trying to figure who was going to have to do such lame, menial work, Kiriyama snapped, "That means all of you. Go!"

His underlings exchanged slightly surprised and disappointed glances, but they exited the musty room, and Kiriyama shut the door behind them. The room had layers of dust coating its insides, with a single window that faced the steadily darkening sky. It was freezing in this room, and other than the light filtering through the dirty glass of the window, the room was dark. All she could see of bleached-head was half of his face, his eyes seeming to glow eerily at her in the darkness.

Midori found her heart thumping uncomfortably, as though too much blood was being forced through it at once, but she tried to calm down. This guy had a pincer grip and his eyes were scary, but he hadn't hurt her too badly yet. She rubbed at her reddening wrists as she weighed out her options.

She'd stretched a lot of muscles running recklessly like she had, and she was out of breath. She needed time to recover some strength before attempting to get past this guy, and run away again. She watched him leaning against the door from her position on the floor for a moment, and wondered if he was someone who could be talked out of this whole situation. Though she doubted it, it never hurt to try.

"What do you have against Seiji-kun?" Her words came out slightly brokenly, partly from her breathlessness and partly from the cold. She tried her best to control her voice. "Were you his friend?"

Kiriyama let out a snort, and replied without looking at her.

"We used to be friends, once. Back in middle school." He paused, his eyes briefly lifting, and Midori thought she saw them soften. "He was good ol' Mad Dog back then. Didn't care about grades, or rules, and he kicked major ass. He wasn't afraid of having a good time, or consequences."

Realising he was reminiscing out loud, Kiriyama shook his head sharply and scowled at Midori.

"When I saw him again a few months ago, though, he was a complete wuss. I told him we weren't friends after that, and he didn't even try to explain himself. He knew what he'd become. 'Course," Kiriyama added, his eyes narrowing, "Now I know, he was probably influenced by you at the time." He rolled his eyes, leaning back into the door and sighing out loud. "He wasn't like that before. What a loser."

"Seiji-kun is not a loser," Midori said indignantly, "He's doing his best, all the time."

"Oh, I'm sure he isn't, not to you. It's your fault he's this way, after all," Kiriyama snapped, but Midori hadn't quite finished having her say. After three years of watching Seiji, and now finally being with him, she knew what Kiriyama meant by the change that had come in her boyfriend. Though she didn't know exactly why, because it had happened before she woke up from her mysterious coma, she knew more than anyone how much Seiji had calmed down and opened himself up to people and relationships.

"Maybe he has changed," She said, her voice not loud but resolute, "But he has changed for the better, and what's more, he changed on his own accord. He chose to start caring more about certain things before I started dating him. Why would I be so arrogant to claim the good change in him was my doing?"

Kiriyama just kept his mouth pulled back in a grimace, without replying, and Midori took the opportunity to voice out loud something that had been bothering her since Kiriyama had started talking about Seiji's past.

"What does kidnapping me accomplish?" She demanded to know, "How is that going to make Seiji-kun change back to the way you want him to be?"

He looked at her for a moment, and she was surprised to see his eyes flicker for a moment to something quite sad, and detached. When he spoke, however, it was with his previous calm, clipped tones.

"We're not looking to change him back to the old Mad Dog. Trying to bring Sawamura back by force has done nothing. He's way gone by now."

"Is this about revenge?" She asked, now a little confused, but Kiriyama snorted.

"I guess it is, for the majority of the delinquents who agreed to this plan. Load of sore losers who can't get over the fact Sawamura could beat them all with his hands tied behind his back. I'm not one of them, though. Neither is Hanabishi."

"Then... Why have you taken me here?" She asked uncertainly, but her captor just looked away and did not say anything for a long time. Midori just sat back, blowing on her fingers to try and warm them a little in the freezing room.

Just as she thought she might try standing up to sit in one of the dusty chairs, he suddenly spoke.

"We need you to make a blackmail tape. One great enough to tame the Mad Dog, and take control."

* * *

"Shingyouji," Seiji said the moment Kouta picked up, "Is there a landing in the Eastern building that connects to another building?"

"Uhm... there are several."

Cursing under his breath, Seiji asked urgently, "I'm going there as fast as I can, but you and Miyahara gotta try and do this faster. We need to find some guy called Yoshizaka. Apparently, he's some Ogurabashi kid who knows where Midori is, and he's on one of those landings."

Kouta inhaled sharply. After a short pause, he said grimly, "Leave it to us. I'll get back to you."

Seiji was glad to hear such confident words, because he had just passed the sports hall once more and right ahead, in the long corridor along the main building, several more lookouts were making a beeline straight for him. It looked as though he'd get a chance to vent some of his suppressed rage and frustration whether he liked it or not, after all.

The looks on their faces, however, told Seiji how reluctant they were. They knew they were going to get grinded by him pretty badly. So what were they still approaching him for? The answer came quickly to Seiji. They were only trying to divert him, and waste his time so by the time he reached Midori, it would be too late.

Too late... He couldn't even imagine that scenario. Like hell he'd let that happen, anyway. These unlucky bastards had no clue just how quickly Seiji could dispatch them. They were waiting for him to make the first move, their eyes trained on him anxiously.

He cracked his knuckles, let his breath out in a harsh puff of air and raised his fists.

* * *

Miyahara was regretting having discarded the Ogurabashi long coat, because now, certain lookouts with huge muscly arms and practically no eyebrows had caught sight of him and - finding the mon-kou uniform highly suspicious - they gave chase with far too much vigour, in Miyahara's opinion.

Though he liked to think he wasn't weak, Miyahara knew his limits - they were no where near Sawamura's - and thus found himself employing his best maneuver: running away with enthusiasm.

He had just managed to lose them at some stairwell, when his cellphone rang. Gripping onto the railing with one hand and panting, he pulled out his phone with the other hand and puffed, "Any news?"

"Yes," Shingyouji said without preamble, "Do you remember Yoshizaka? The Ogurabashi student helping these people hurt Midori-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"He knows where Midori-chan is. At least, that is what someone told Sawamura-san."

Miyahara was pretty sure that 'someone' wasn't exactly a friend, and couldn't help a grin as he thought - for perhaps the millionth time - that Sawamura was awesome, getting information like that.

"So where is this guy right now?" Miyahara asked as he climbed up the stairs.

"He's supposed to be in the Eastern building. Miyahara-san, where are you? I don't see you anywhere."

"Er, yeah." Miyahara took a moment to take in his surroundings, grinning a little sheepishly. "I got out of the basement area pretty quickly, 'cause no one was around on my side 'cept for a couple of goons who chased me a good way along..." He pushed open a door at the landing he had reached, and peered out of it. "I think I'm still in the Eastern building, though."

"Well, according to Sawamura-san's informant, he's patrolling a landing between the Eastern building and another extension. That means either the third, fifth or seventh floor."

"The shiny silver number says I'm on the third floor. So what does the dude look like?"

"Er... Let me think... He has really dark-brown hair, and it's kind of long..." Miyahara heard Shingyouji's friend, Iwasaki, chime in aside of him,

"Not to mention really drop-dead good-looking!"

He frowned, looking ahead of him intently.

"By drop-dead good-looking, does she mean those types that annoy the hell outta me?"

"Huh?"

"This Yoshi guy... Is he broad-shouldered, kinda tan, green-eyed and around six feet tall?"

"Y-yes," Shingyouji said, startled, "How did you know that?"

Miyahara raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm looking right at him." He paused to take a deep breath; he hadn't expected any real action from his upperclassman's request to investigate, but now wasn't the time to get nervous, not when he thought about what was at stake. "Give me a minute."

Sliding the phone into his pocket, Miyahara squared his shoulders and strode towards Yoshizaka. The door shut with a loud creak and a bang, and Yoshizaka, who had been in a sort of stupor, snapped to immediate attention.

Before he could assess the situation properly, Miyahara asked innocently, "Hey, are you Yoshizaka?"

"Uhm, yes." A little closer, Miyahara could see cold sweat, shining dully under the bluish light of the corridor, on Yoshizaka's brow. Trying to look less apprehensive, Yoshizaka tried a smile. "May I know who-?"

Before he could finish his question, Miyahara rushed forward and rammed Yoshizaka against the wall, his fist against his throat, and Yoshizaka let out a choked cry of surprise and pain. Narrowing his eyes, Miyahara glared at Yoshizaka as his hissed through his teeth menacingly,

"You're gonna tell me where Sawamura-san's girlfriend is, and you're going to tell me now. Or else I'll beat the living crap out of you."

* * *

"What's going on?" Iwasaki asked the moment he hung up, something she'd been asking repeatedly since they had left the locker room.

"Stop asking me. Miyahara-san will call me back soon to tell me," Kouta replied curtly, "Let's just keep searching for Midori-chan."

"Fine," She said, sounding a little bruised, and Kouta realised how he had sounded like. He tried to make amends, saying hastily but sincerely,

"I didn't mean to be short with you, Iwasaki-san. I'm just... really worried, and stressed out with it. I'm sorry."

As they walked briskly along the hallway, she looked at him. Kouta had always thought her eyes were quite startling in how piercing they could be, even when she wasn't intending to be. Then she gave a small nod.

"I get it, Kouta."

She turned her head away as Kouta flinched inwardly.

'Kouta.'

He was never sure how to feel about this certain classmate, especially recently. In their first term, when she had befriended Midori, he had had no idea why, considering the fact she was as outgoing and boisterous as Midori was withdrawn and shy.

He got an idea, though, of what kind of person she was when he had first approached Midori to ask if she was catching up alright with class around a month ago. Iwasaki had been sitting with her at the time, and when Midori introduced him as her childhood friend, Iwasaki had said - with a rather derisive look in her eyes - 'Hi, Kouta.'

She had talked to him in passing before, when it came to asking for help with wringing out the cloth or wiping the board when they had clean-up duty on the same days, but she had never had to call him by name until then. When it came to it, she had not bothered with any honorifics, not even bothering to call him by his surname, choosing to call him in an incredibly familiar manner.

At that time, Kouta had thought it was a bit rude, but it didn't affect him enough to bother reprimanding her - he had only smiled and laughed a little nervously in response. After all, she was Midori's friend, and though she might look down on him, that was nothing new. Everyone looked down at him, and he couldn't blame them - he was still small and scrawny and girly-looking, and the Crimson Angels were still able to force him into the most ridiculously frilly getups after school every week.

Still, he'd been trying so hard to try and get a little tougher on the inside by starting with the outside. Sawamura had shown him that determination was what got you anywhere when you wanted to defend yourself, and so he'd been attending the Iwasaki Karate Dojo. And he knew he wasn't quite that muscular yet, nor was he really that strong, but he'd been learning some things and started feeling a little more confidence in his masculinity.

The thing about Iwasaki, out of all the people who looked down on him, was that she was the one person who knew he was attending her father's dojo. Which was why, as time wore on, the more she called him just 'Kouta', the more it began to irk him. She made him feel like his efforts were worth nothing, because no matter how hard he was trying to prove himself, she just looked at him like he was pathetic and called him 'Kouta' - not because she wanted to be familiar with him, but because she didn't think he was worth more respect than that.

It was why he had began to harbour, even unwittingly to himself, a sort of grudge against her. It was actually in this moment, when he was spoke so cuttingly to her, that he realised he would have never done that to any other girl.

He couldn't have helped it, though. He was easily his friendly, good-natured and weak self with Midori's other friends, like Chika and Igarashi, but Iwasaki always seemed to be judging him on the spot, with her strong, clear gaze. With her, he was still himself, but something in him always felt uncomfortably tight, and he knew it was because he found it difficult to listen to her call him 'Kouta' so indifferently.

Just yesterday, when she had been walking towards Midori's home and he had stopped her because Sawamura and Midori didn't look like they ought to be bothered, she had finally made him snap. She had looked at him with those judgmental eyes of hers and said in an incredulous voice, 'Kouta?' The utter lack of respect for him had never been so evident, and though he had managed to suppress how upset he had been, he had never had to control himself so much before.

Of course, it hadn't helped matters much that she had bit his hand quite painfully (the tooth marks stayed all evening), and also watching Sawamura and Midori kiss so tenderly had brought about a rush of such mixed, confused feelings, he forgot about Iwasaki completely.

What he did remember, however, was that the look in her eyes when he had spoken back to her had been... different. He had never seen it before and wasn't sure what it meant, but ever since then, Iwasaki had been treating him differently. She still called him 'Kouta' in her infuriatingly over-familiar way, but there was a definite change in the way she was talking to him and looking at him.

She even seemed to be paying more attention to him, which was a little unnerving because not only was Iwasaki rather popular and rowdier than most girls, she was also tall and pretty, what with her sleek dark hair and flawless complexion. Plus, despite the fact he found her intimidating, especially in regards to his self-worth, she didn't seem to be doing it out of spite. She was a genuine person who didn't bother with two-facing or false politeness, as far as he could tell. In that, he thought he could detect a similarity between Iwasaki and Sawamura.

He wasn't sure what to make of it, but whatever it was, Kouta knew he shouldn't let his guard down around her. There was no telling how much of him she'd poke too hard with her abrasive attitude, and he really didn't care to be pushed around by her much more.

"So," Iwasaki said, peering into one of the classrooms in the C wing she and Kouta were searching, "Are you going to tell me about Midori-chan, or not?"

"Right," Kouta said, shaken out of his thoughts with the abrupt pull back to grim reality, "I will. Basically... Sawamura-san's enemies have decided to do something a little more than just use Midori-chan as bait to lure Sawamura-san. They've decided to make a blackmail tape."

"A blackmail tape? How?"

In the dark corridors, Kouta's words were spoken quietly, but the echoes carried eerily around the grey-blue walls. "They're going to force Midori-chan to do... unspeakable things in front of a video camera, and blackmail Sawamura-san with it. They want to make it so he has to listen to every word they say, or else they'll put the video up onto the internet."

"Unspeakable things...?" Iwasaki sounded confused, but with one look at Kouta's face, she let out a gasp that make him visibly wince. He cringed further as Iwasaki yelped loudly, "You mean, they want to make an ADULT tape with MIDORI-CHAN?"

* * *

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, and Midori just gaped at him as she stammered, "A-adult v-video? M-me?"

"Yup. You're gonna star in one, today." Kiriyama sighed, leaning back slightly. "You're not that sexy at all, really. You're kinda dull and really short. But you're cute, at least. Once the guys come back with the video recording equipment, we'll set it up, and they'll have a go with you. Might be kind of interesting, actually. Can you figure out the rest now, princess?"

She could scarcely breathe, let alone speak, but Kiriyama seemed quite satisfied at that reaction.

"Sawamura can't do a thing to us with a video like that in our hands. He's gonna have to do what we tell him, or else the video'll go all over the internet." He laughed wheezily. "Isn't it great? It's like a double whammy, too, 'cause I picked Ogurabashi High to do this in. Can you imagine, adult videos being taken in a high-class school like this? It's reputation will go right down the drain." He whistled here, imitating a cheery high to a low, hollow end. "Say goodbye to your neat little escalator system."

"Y-you can't get away with that," Midori gasped, "If you put it online- people would know you did wr-wrong-"

"Oh, really now?" Kiriyama smirked at her now, in a way that made her feel cold inside. "When I heard Sawamura had a girlfriend after the Shin Sakura attack, I went about trying to find out more about her. I figured she might have something to do with the drastic change in my old buddy. I even ran an internet search." He laughed a little here, but it was entirely mirthless. "Guess what I found?"

She didn't think he could have found anything, since she didn't think she'd done anything worth appearing on the web for, but Kiriyama now raised himself from the door and took a step towards her, saying, "Kasugano Midori. An Internet Idol. Real little cutie who won the hearts of quite a lot of people before suddenly disappearing. Who'd've thunk?"

"Wh-what?" She looked up at Kiriyama, completely at sea. "I'm not an idol."

"Whatever, Princess." He sat down on his haunches, and gazed at her in an unsettling manner. "I have to tell you, though, I didn't think of the plan until later. It was when we were ironing out the kinks, wondering what to do if maybe someone else got hold of the video and held it against us, that I realised that was our safety."

Midori had no idea what he was talking about, and thought he was probably going out of his mind. He certainly had a manic glint in his eye as he said softly, "It wouldn't be weird for an idol to be making adult videos, right? No matter how much she might resist, it can all be chalked up to damn good acting, wouldn't you say?"

"You- you can't do this," She whispered, her mind still running endless laps. Her heart was thudding in her ears and she was trying, rapidly, to think of a way out, and ignoring the increasing screams in her head of pure panic. Kiriyama grimaced slightly.

"I say we can, Midori-chan. Who's to stop us?"

"Y-you can't do this," Midori repeated, looking at Kiriyama in the eye, "You can't force something like this on me, or Seiji-kun. This is... inhumane. Didn't you say you used to be Seiji-kun's friend? Seiji-kun would never condone something like this."

"Really, now?" No longer looking amused, Kiriyama looked at her coldly. "Let me tell you something. You think yourself a little angel to Sawamura, doncha? Gonna lead him the right way, towards the light, and make him let go of all his delinquent ways." His tone grew bitter, the words coming jaggedly. "That's what you think, isn't it?"

Midori was startled by such confrontational questions, and her eyes widened in alarm, but he wasn't watching her for a response at all. His words spilled forth, hot and vicious, rising in volume.

"You're a downright goody-two-shoes, complete opposite to Sawamura. You don't have to go to cram school every night like most kids, 'cause if you push all the right buttons in this pompous rich-ass school of yours, you go into any university or college you please, right off the bat. You eat all your high-class meals with a silver spoon, doncha? You don't work hard for anything."

Before she could say anything, a scary, wide-eyed look of fury overtook his stony expression and he was in front of her in a second, his wild eyes inches from hers as he yelled into her face, "It was you!"

He shoved her onto the floor, dust billowing into the air as she looked up at Kiriyama, stunned and winded. His fingers dug deep into her shoulder as he bellowed down at her, "You made him change! Do you know what he was like before? Do you have any idea what it's like to live with tough kids that kick you in the dirt and spit on you for fun? Do you know what it's like to have to rely on nothing but yourself when life treats you like that? You don't have a clue, Princess."

The settling dust was making her cough, but her eyes stayed open, unable to leave from its transfixed hold on Kiriyama. His voice was winding down, his wild eyes darkening into a quiet, bitter look, but his grip remained tight and painful. "You can't change him to whatever you like. Sawamura is too strong. Whenever he's with you, he's sacrificing that part of himself just to make you happy.

"He ditched the way he used to live, for the mediocre average kid life you want him to live. The way he used to be, when he was with me... he was invincible. But in your world, he's nothing. Don't you see that? You selfish little brat."

Midori's mind was buzzing; she knew she had to say something, anything, but nothing was coming out of her mouth. His hand shot forward and gripped her face painfully, locking her jaw in his hand tightly as he spoke softly.

"You've pushed me to this. He'll have you to thank for what I'm gonna hafta do, to get a damn set of reins on the bastard."

And before she knew what was happening, Kiriyama had crushed his mouth over hers.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting continues to be a chore...

What I really wanted to do in this chapter was not just explain what was at stake, but also - as you might be able to tell - set the background for the relationship between Iwasaki and Kouta. I've been insinuating a lot of things so far from Iwasaki's side, but I had never written in Kouta's POV yet because I didn't have much confidence for it. I gave it a shot this chapter, however, and I hope it works and serves to show what he thinks about Iwasaki. (It's not that fluffy, is it?) The only thing I don't like about it is that is slows down the momentum a bit, but I guess it has to happen one time or another - and it might as well happen before the action really begins to kick up.

Thank you so much for all your reviews, everyone. I cannot tell you how much it matters to me, to be able to read someone's opinion on what I write for these fandoms. I love to know people appreciate the series enough to indulge in fanfictions of it, and it makes writing such stuff very satisfying and highly enjoyable. Thank you all, again!


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Shining Moments

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Fourteen: Shining Moments**

* * *

The cold sweat was back full force, with trembling. "I-I d-don't know," Yoshizaka stammered, "N-no idea what you're t-talking about..."

Miyahara had a feeling the guy needed a taste of pain to get him scared enough to talk. The thing was, Miyahara wasn't really that strong - actually, most of Sawamura's enemies found him ridiculously easy to grab hold of and knock out of commission. Even with some training, he was still just simple fodder for most of the gang leaders out there. Right now, most of what he was doing was just a major bluff. Was he really capable of pulling off a physical threat that would coerce an answer?

Then again, this was an Ogurabashi kid, someone who had most likely grown up in places out of the sandpit and the alleyways and had never thrown a punch in his life... it was worth a shot.

Letting go of the guy roughly, Miyahara jammed a short but power packed punch into Yoshizaka's jaw. Yoshizaka reeled, his eyes bulging as he held a shaky hand to his mouth, incoherent gasps escaping his rapidly swelling lips. Not giving him much time to recover, Miyahara shoved him against the wall again, his face close to Yoshizaka's.

"Spill it," He spat, "Or I'll beat you 'till you're unrecognisable."

God, he hoped it wouldn't go there. He had never thrown a punch like that and had it connect so fully in his life; his fist was already beginning to numb from the impact, no doubt ready to start pulsing with pain sooner or later. However, apparently, whatever Sawamura's enemies had on Yoshizaka had been sufficient enough to control him, because they clearly hadn't laid a hand on him. Yoshizaka was clearly stunned by the blow, Miyahara stared at the tears forming at the corners of Yoshizaka's green eyes.

"Sh-she's with Kiriyama. I d-don't know where-"

"Your friends say you do know," Miyahara interrupted, "So just say it, you asshole."

Yoshizaka paled further, now trembling very badly, but he whispered, "O-okay, I'll t-talk. K-Kasugano-san had to be t-taken somewhere n-no-one would look. I t-told them to t-take her into th-the old storage room, the room they used to store spare ch-chairs."

"Where is that storage room?" Miyahara demanded, shaking Yoshizaka.

"D-don't shake me! It's in th-the Southern building, top floor," He whimpered, "I-it's locked, though. Kiriyama has the k-key."

"How else can you open it?"

"Th-there's no way-"

"There has to be a way! Is it opened by key card or something? Can it be opened with your card?"

Yoshizaka moaned, "N-no, I picked that room for them because you c-can't. It's opened with a g-good old-fashioned key. It's an old r-room, the school will be replacing it soon... I swear I'm t-telling the truth."

Miyahara stared hard at Yoshizaka, but as Yoshizaka quivered, tears dripping from his eyes, Miyahara knew this guy wasn't lying. It seemed so strange - what on earth could they have on this guy? He was pretty pathetic, but he seemed the type to stick to the rules.

"You do realise what's going on, right?" Miyahara said quietly, "You know what's going to happen to that girl. Why aren't you stopping it?"

"I-I c-can't!" Yoshizaka looked stricken, his eyes wide and fearful, "You d-don't understand. My entire future... I h-have to listen to them, or else..."

"What about the girl's future?" Miyahara said furiously, glaring at Yoshizaka, "Could you live with yourself knowing you ruined her life?"

"I-I'm not responsible for that girl!" Yoshizaka said, his brow furrowed, "I'm a victim, too. We're b-both victims!"

Forget about this guy possibly being of a decent sort. Disgusted, Miyahara let go of Yoshizaka and stepped back, tempted to wipe his hands, and quite convinced this guy wasn't worth punching again. He turned around, knowing he was running out of time, and pulled his phone out of his pocket just as a sudden squeak of shoes sounded behind him.

Before he could turn back, Yoshizaka had his arm around Miyahara's throat. His cellphone went clattering to the ground, and Yoshizaka's arm squeezed around his neck tightly. Shocked, Miyahara choked, grabbing at the arm with his hands, but Yoshizaka's arm was steadfast and unmoving with surprising strength. He gasped for air uselessly, his fingers weakening in its attempt to push Yoshizaka away, and he could hear Yoshizaka breathing quickly in his ear-

His head was beginning to spin, the ceiling sliding in and out of focus... Was this it? Was this all he could do? Once he passed out, Miyahara had no idea how long he'd stay out. But this guy knew where Sawamura's girlfriend was. They were counting on him to find out where it was. But he'd let his guard down, stupidly, for one measly second and that was going to cost everyone enormously.

'I'm sorry, senpai,' Miyahara thought weakly, as his vision began to blur, 'I'm sorry for letting you down...'

What was the worst about this was that Sawamura had never let Miyahara down. He had never disappointed him, ever.

And Sawamura wasn't just his role-model... he was his friend. Miyahara had been with Sawamura for a long time, even before Sakuradamon, since the day Sawamura had saved him from a load of thugs in the back alley. He knew that behind his vicious fighting exterior, Sawamura was just a lonely guy like most of them, what with his parents gone abroad and his crazy sister. He had learnt the hard way how to cope. From his twenty or so failed confessions, Miyahara knew how desperately starved Sawamura had been for someone to be with. And now, finally, he had found her.

Miyahara knew that Sawamura would go great lengths to protect him. And Miyahara would do anything he could for a friend like him, especially when it came to protecting the one thing that Sawamura truly deserved.

With that in mind, Miyahara grit his teeth and threw his weight against his attacker. It was a clumsy, oxygen-deprived movement, but Yoshizaka let out a grunt of pain as he hit the wall. Though he didn't let go of Miyahara, his grip loosened temporarily.

Sucking in air thankfully, Miyahara tried to elbow whatever he could of Yoshizaka, but that only made Yoshizaka swear and tighten his hold around Miyahara's throat.

"You think- I can let you go- after her?" Yoshizaka muttered out with difficulty, because Miyahara was struggling so much, "Kiriyama'll- tell everyone. I'll lose- everything. Won't- let- that- happen-"

It was actually kind of impressive - Yoshizaka had seemed pathetically weak, and elbowing him in the gut proved he had no real muscle there to back what felt like an iron grip. Was it Yoshizaka's pure determination that was pinning Miyahara down like this? Losing oxygen rapidly again, Miyahara was growing desperate. In one last ditch attempt at an attack, Miyahara bashed the back his head as hard as he could into Yoshizaka's forehead.

That did the trick; letting out a sharp noise of pain, Yoshizaka let go of Miyahara to clutch at his face, and Miyahara stumbled forward, gulping air frantically.

Though the back of his head throbbed and his fist was still aching, Miyahara faced the staggering Yoshizaka, and slugged the guy for all he was worth in the stomach. Yoshizaka's long dark hair was all over his face as he let out a drawn-out, silent cry before crumpling on the floor.

"You cheap bastard," Miyahara panted, rubbing the back of his head and wincing, "Fight back the first time round!"

There was no response, but Miyahara didn't really care for one. He picked up his cellphone from the ground, and was relieved to find it undamaged. As he waited for Sawamura to pick up, he glanced at Yoshizaka's fallen form, and finally let a proud grin spread across his face. He couldn't wait to tell Lucy about this one.

* * *

Another series of jabs, of increasingly sloppy kicks and bashing skulls with their own weapons... Was there no end to them?

Seiji hated to admit it, but his knuckles were growing numb; everytime he flexed his fingers a sharp twitch of pain shot through his hands, and his waist was already aching from all the punches he'd been throwing. As he staggered back, blinking blood out of his eyes from a trickle down his hairline, he barely ducked a dangerous swipe at his neck with a baseball bat. Wincing slightly as it crashed against the wall behind his head, Seiji kicked his attacker into another.

Wiping at his brow, Seiji took a few steps forward, over his fallen opponents, trying his best not to breathe too heavily and betray his exhaustion. To his irritation and fury, someone (dazedly) tried to throw a punch at him, but he dodged it and threw a punch himself. He felt no satisfaction in feeling it connect, however, nor in watching the person collapse onto the ground, finally unconscious.

All he could think about was Midori, fighting for herself and getting hurt just because some stupid old school mate of his wouldn't leave him alone, and here he was, forced to waste his time with flunkies, lame underlings that would get him nowhere.

"Just let me go, damn it!" He seethed, glaring at previously fallen Hanzoumon students pick themselves up with an unsteady wobble, "Do you really want me to beat the crap out of you so much?"

"Sawamura-san!"

Seiji whipped around, and blinked in surprise. "Miyahara?"

"I've been trying to reach you," Miyahara called out as he stumbled over unconscious forms at the end of the corridor, "Is your phone broken?"

"What?" Seiji frowned slightly, fumbling in his pocket with one hand and, with the other, headlocking a Hanzoumon student who had just attempted to tackle him, "Oh, crap, what did I miss? Did you find Midori?"

"Through your tip, I found out she's on top floor of the Southern Building," Miyahara explained, ducking as Seiji bodily lifted his attacker and hurled him over, "You weren't picking up though, so Shingyouji told me where you might be-"

"Damn it!" Seiji muttered, looking at his cellphone to find tens of missed calls on the screen, "These morons are going to pay hell if-"

He sucked in his next few words, startled, when Miyahara's fist went flying over his shoulder; a grunt of pain sounded behind his ear before the would-be attacker collapsed.

"I'll take care of these losers," Miyahara said confidently, jabbing his thumb towards the weakened and unsteady punks strewn all over the floor, "Go, Sawamura-san!"

Seiji wouldn't have agreed to leaving his underclassman at the mercy of so many opponents if he hadn't been so urgent in his desire to find Midori as soon as possible, and if he didn't know that he'd broken most of the attacker's bones at this point.

"I'll leave it to you," He said quickly, giving Miyahara a short clap on the shoulder, "Thanks, Miyahara."

He thought Miyahara's stunned look and wide, bright eyes were a little strange for his brief remark, but he wasted no time in pondering that. Seiji spun on his heel and ran forward, with only one person now on his mind.

* * *

When the acidic, bitter taste of cigarettes in Kiriyama's mouth finally registered on Midori, she let out a muffled scream, and tried to twist away, but his hands were holding her down tightly. This was the opposite to how Seiji had felt like; she would never, ever call this a kiss, she had never felt anything so repulsive. When she realised she couldn't wrest herself away from his grasp, she bit him hard.

He jerked back, cursing, and she scrambled away from him, wanting nothing more than to wash her mouth out. Instead, she spat out what she could, gagging slightly.

Kiriyama wiped his lip with the back of his hand, glowering at her, but Midori only looked back with venom.

"This'll be as painful as you make it," He said in a low voice, barely audible, "You can't stop it, though."

She didn't answer, and he stood up slowly. Spitting out a gob of blood himself, Kiriyama turned on his heel and leaned against the door again.

"When they're back with the equipment, setting it up isn't gonna take long." Kiriyama laughed mirthlessly again. "After that, you'll have to try and make the best of it, princess."

Midori could no longer stop them from coming; the tears burned her eyes before they fell, thick and fast, dotting on the dusty floor as she bit back her sobs. Closing her eyes, she curled up into herself, hiding her face from Kiriyama so he would not have the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She knew her shaking shoulders probably told him well enough what she was doing, though.

"...What's taking so long?" Kiriyama muttered, and he proceeded to walk over to the window, holding his cellphone to his ear.

As he stood by the window, Midori stood up shakily, wiping at her eyes roughly. She hurried to the door, fumbling as she fitted her fingertips into the handle slot, and tried to slide it open. It did not move an inch. She wrestled with the handle hard, pulling quite violently at it, but all she managed to do was cause a loud racket with the door jostling in its frame. So confident that she could not open it, Kiriyama had not even bothered turning around from his phonecall, and Midori pulled all the more at the door. Finally, only when one of her hands slipped out from a cracked and bleeding nail, she stopped her futile tries.

Sliding her palms against the door as she fell to her knees, Midori unwillingly felt her eyes fill again. The foul taste of Kiriyama's mouth still lingered, poisonously, on her tongue, and she resisted the urge to hurl. Kiriyama's words, that she could never truly understand Seiji, stabbed at her, though she tried to ignore it, and incredible fear was starting to paralyse her at what was going to happen if she didn't manage to get away somehow. To make it all worse, an unhelpful but painful, constant reel of 'you are so stupid' was repeatedly playing away in her head.

'Seiji-kun,' She thought desperately, 'Why are things happening like this...?'

* * *

"How are we going to open that door?" Iwasaki asked urgently as she and Kouta tore up the stairs flight by flight, "If Miyahara-san is talking about the room we're thinking of, then there's no way in, right? Who would have the keys?"

"The general office might have had them, but I'm pretty sure the Yoshizaka too them out," Kouta puffed, his eyes darting down every hallway they passed by in case a lookout caught sight of them, "But right now, I'm sure only the people who orchestrated this whole 'plan' have the keys."

Iwasaki let out a small groan, pausing slightly to catch her breath; they were finally on the top floor landing. "I still can't believe that Yoshizaka-kun is involved in this. Did you say he actually condoned this plan, too?"

"They were blackmailing him, though I don't know with what," Kouta admitted, "But I still believe that doesn't give him the right to let something like that happen."

"Me too," Iwasaki replied, looking at Kouta with her fierce gaze again as they rounded a corner, "How could-?"

"Iwasaki-san!"

That was all he managed to say before he grabbed hold of her and pulled her down clumsily. She gasped in his ear as they hit the floor, a huge clang echoing down the stairwell behind them. Kouta quickly rolled over her, fumbling to get to his feet as a gigantic Shin Sakura student with something long and metal in his hands towered over them. The Shin Sakura punk looked slightly stunned himself by the impact of his blow against the wall, but with the clang still ringing in their ears, he swung his muscly arms back once more, his puny eyes now fixated on Kouta.

Kouta barely ducked the second swing; it came whistling so close to his head he felt several hairs part from his scalp with a heated sting. Pivoting his weight from his heels, Kouta shoved his shoulder into their attacker's midriff. As the Shin Sakura student let out a choked noise of surprise, Kouta took the opportunity to tighten his fist the way he'd been taught, and give the guy a good one right in the gut.

Before he could see how much effect it had, however, Kouta yelped in pain; someone had shot an arm out from behind him and grasped a fistful of hair from the top of his head. Iwasaki let out a short scream behind him, followed by a series of rough, scuffling noises.

"Iwasaki-san!" Kouta yelled, struggling with the grip on him as he felt his chest contract in concern, but his yell turned to a harsh groan of pain as the hand on his head tightened. He squinted up at his attacker, and saw another Shin Sakura student, with shaggy orange hair and narrowed eyes.

"Pathetic little Ogura brat," He rasped, as Kouta felt his eyes tear up from the stinging pain, "You should've kept yer nose outta our business."

As the thug shook him, so his head burned with pain, Kouta felt an inexplicable shot of fury pierce him. Pathetic? That was the last thing he wanted to be, and he was doing all he could to prove he wasn't, especially to the one girl behind him.

"I am not," Kouta said through clenched teeth, and he gripped the Carrot-top's arm with both hands tightly. As Carrot-top strained to loosen Kouta's grip, Kouta swung himself back before swerving his leg around and planting his foot into his attacker's jaw.

He felt something crunch - he wasn't sure whether it was his ankle, or the attacker's teeth - and the fingers in his hair released its painful hold as Carrot-top fell to the ground, his face slack and unconscious.

Kouta landed unevenly - realising the crunch hadn't been his ankle in relief - and spun around, raising his fists quickly. Iwasaki was staring at him, open-mouthed, as a stout, beefy looking punk held her around the neck and another, short and skinny Shin Sakura student glared at him.

"Let her go!" Kouta said bravely, standing as tall he could, but the short and skinny punk's eyes were unrelenting. They remained on Kouta, cold and narrow, as he spat at the ground.

"I don't think so," He hissed. Without another word, he dashed forward, far faster than Kouta could have anticipated, and delivered a sharp punch to his liver. The pain was phenomenal, and Kouta felt his entire body cramp and crumple in pain as his eyes bulged. He barely managed to keep himself on his feet, though he was crouching unsteadily, but his opponent did not wait; he shoved Kouta onto the wall with his left arm, hard, winding him.

Iwasaki shrieked something, but Kouta wasn't able to hear it well; everything was happening too fast, a blur of pain and colour, and with his attacker looking just about ready to pummel him into the wall, Kouta was frozen in fear and panicking inside. A new sensation, however, of resentment towards himself was burning the back of his mind - long ago, when he'd let those delinquents beat him up after Sawamura's jab at his lack of manliness, he'd felt pain far more intense than this, but why was it that he was still so weak-?

Angrily, Kouta tried to throw a punch, but missed by a mile. His attacker, entirely unimpressed, kicked up the fallen metal contraption on the floor to his hands. As Kouta struggled to bring his fists back, the short punk drove the instrument into his side. Pain exploded from his ribs; Kouta let out a yell as he fell to his knees, clutching at his side, unable to focus on anything else-

"KOUTA!" Iwasaki screamed, and Kouta looked up at her with difficulty, wanting to tell her to run away but his tongue felt immobilised.

"You can join the 'party', if you like," The stout student chortled, squeezing her slightly with his arm, and Iwasaki suddenly clutched at it. Letting out a loud cry, she hurled the student over her shoulder. The punk let out a confused noise as his large form loomed over everyone, before he crashed onto the ground and fell silent.

"Wh-wha-?" The short punk held the metal pipe out in front of him hastily, looking startled, but Iwasaki sharply kicked the pipe out of his hands. As he attempted to scramble for his weapon, she spun around and kicked him hard with her other leg, sending him sprawling. Before he could get up, she slammed her heel against his temple.

Panting heavily, Iwasaki rubbed at her neck, scowling down at their fallen attackers. Then she glanced over at Kouta with a different, softer look. Offering her hand to him, she asked, "Are you okay, Kouta?"

He didn't realise his mouth was open until then, and he quickly shut it. He took her hand, and gingerly pressing his fingers against his bruised ribs, Kouta stood up. Nothing felt broken, and quite aware of her piercing gaze on him, Kouta quickly pulled his hand away and muttered awkwardly without looking at her, "I think so. How about you, Iwasaki-san?"

"I haven't done that move in such a long time," Iwasaki said, still rubbing her neck and wincing slightly, "Dad always said I needed to know all this just in case, but I never thought I'd actually use it."

Of course, Kouta realised, Iwasaki wasn't the daughter of the Iwasaki Karate Dojo for nothing. It had just never occurred to Kouta that she had been practicing it at all, because he hardly saw her around the dojo. The way she looked right now, her eyes bright and her back straight and tall... Realising he was blushing, Kouta gave himself a mental shake.

"Let's keep going," Iwasaki said, he nodded, starting to forge on ahead, when a dull shine on the floor caught his eye.

"What are these doing here?" He wondered, staring at the collection of small digital cameras at the side of the corridor.

"Wait a minute... Do you think they were going to use this for...?" Iwasaki's held up the metal contraption, looking slightly sick, and Kouta realised with a start that it was a tripod.

"Hey, you two," A low voice called out, one that Kouta recognised, "Did you knock my precious comrades out?"

Both Iwasaki and Kouta snapped their heads up. A tall figure with dark hair from a high hairline was standing a short distance down the hallway, the dark turquoise Shin Sakura long coat tucked under a muscular arm. Though his voice seemed relaxed, as well as his stance, his eyes were narrowed and icy.

"The guy from the locker room," Kouta murmured, recalling the chillingly light and humorous way the voice had described the repulsive plan to hurt Midori, and he heard Iwasaki suck in her breath.

Neither Iwasaki and Kouta replied to his question, but the tall figure seemed to know anyway. Keeping his cold eyes on them, he raised a black cellphone, which glinted in the dying sunlight, to his mouth.

"Well, now I know what's taking them so long," He said softly, "But you're really not gonna like it, Kiriyama."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: Reformatting away!

There wasn't a lot of Seiji or Midori in this chapter, was there? I guess I gave this chapter to the support characters who came to help both Seiji and Midori out in this crisis.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Pushing Limits

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Fifteen: Pushing Limits**

* * *

"What?"

Hearing the sharp disbelief and fury in Kiriyama's tone, Midori's eyes snapped up.

For the first time since she'd been crumpled against the door, Kiriyama looked at her, and though his eyes were clouded with the same hatred as before, there was something else in them that betrayed his calm posture. Was it just her imagination, or was she really detecting a flicker of something like panic?

"I shoulda known better than to ask you buncha-"

He stopped abruptly, and this time Midori definitely caught alarm in his dark eyes as he shot her another glance. She could only hear a low, indistinct mumble at the other end of Kiriyama's cellphone, but whatever the voice was saying, Midori realised it was something to hope for.

A sudden warmth surged through her body, thawing her cold lips and her mind. Midori's fingertips dug into her lap, a powerful hope beginning to burn in her chest.

'Seiji-kun.'

Kiriyama suddenly snarled so loudly Midori jerked slightly in shock.

"Deal with it, then! NOW!"

* * *

"Yes, sir," Hanabishi said sarcastically, but Kiriyama had already cut the phone.

If things had been his way, Hanabishi knew he would have challenged Kiriyama long ago. The guy might not be lacking in charisma or leadership skills, but he could also be a fantastic asshole when it mattered. Unfortunately, Kiriyama was the one pulling all the strings, even if Hanabishi was pretty damn sure he could win him in a clean fight if it came to blows.

However, Kiriyama wasn't the most pressing problem at the moment. Slowly, Hanabishi turned his gaze from his phone to the two Ogurabashi students standing before him.

Oh, he'd let Goroshi slide, as Goro might win most height and weight competitions, but was about as dumb as the next rock on the road. Seeing him sprawled on the ground wasn't so shocking. He wouldn't put it past the idiot to have walked straight into a wall.

It was quite another thing to see Kazumaya unconcious, his nose bleeding and his limbs lying limp. Kazumaya might have funky hair, but he wasn't stupid like Goro. He worked pretty well with Sakuno, who was one of the best close-range fighters he had in his gang. But that Sakuno was in a heap next to Goro, unmoving.

And their defeat had, apparently, come about from these two gawky-looking, scrawny little rich brats from Ogura.

"Wh-where's Midori-cha- Sawamura-san's girlfriend?"

The small one - damn, that was a boy, right? - looked like the type of kid he'd shoved into toilets just last week, but he was glaring (albeit, rather poorly) at Hanabishi as though personally offended.

"In the storage room on this floor," Hanabishi said easily. Both of the Ogura students gasped.

"The one that's about to be torn down?" The girl demanded, her glare a damn sight better than the boy's, "Don't you need a key to get in?"

Hanabishi patted his pocket where he'd placed the copied key Kiriyama had given him the day before, adding with a shrug, "Got ol' Yoshi to thank."

For some reason, both students seemed to understand who he meant immediately, because the boy muttered 'Damn it, Yoshizaka' under his breath, and the girl let out a low hiss through her teeth like an angry cat. So much for breaking the news that their goody-two-shoes pretty boy was really a drug dealer who ripped off of Ogura students like crazy. Their reactions would have been interesting to watch.

"So," Hanabishi said after a short pause, sizing both of them up once more with his gaze, "was it really you two who knocked my subordinates out?"

When both of them nodded, Hanabishi didn't know whether to find it funny, or incensing to the point it was difficult to think straight. Calmly sliding his phone into his coat pocket, he held the dark turquoise coat aside slowly, unthreateningly. It was almost amusing to see the boy before him flinch at the action.

So these were Mad Dog's new friends? These two little pipsqueaks were the best he could come up with to help him out, now that he was no longer part of the fighting underground? It was sad, really. Except they'd actually managed to do a real number to several of his underlings, to several real fighters, and that just made no sense at all.

The coat fell to the ground in a crumple of dark turquoise, the flump sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet hallway.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Hanabishi Kyousuke." He brought his hands to shoulder height, lowering his stance as his eyes narrowed, his lips barely moving as he said softly, "I'll be returning the favour now."

He'd made up his mind. It wasn't funny.

* * *

Something changed in the air almost imperceptibly. Almost.

Iwasaki had been witness to plenty of competitions and tournaments in her lifetime so far. Whether it was in her own father's dojo, or in a game of basketball or lacrosse, she had experienced this sort of change in the air several times before. Somehow, in this one moment, things stopped being just a game, or a match within a system of regulations. Everything suddenly turned more intense; blood started pumping through your veins more strongly and heavy sparks of tension crackled. The burning desire to win was fueled by something powerful.

It was same thing at this moment, yet somehow, not quite. The air abruptly grew laden with something far thicker and darker than anything Iwasaki had experienced before. The Shin Sakura student who had introduced himself as Hanabishi pinned her to the ground with just his eyes.

It was scary.

'Pull yourself together!' She told herself sharply, wanting to glance over at Kouta, but she didn't dare take her eyes off of Hanabishi.

He moved. He was on a completely different level to the other thugs they'd just come across. She'd barely registered he was in front of her before his fist connected, squarely, with the side of her ribcage.

With a silent gasp of shock, Iwasaki flew back and crashed into the pile of tripods. The sharp jabs of the metal contraptions did nothing to help the pain that belatedly exploded at her side, and she bit back a cry. Managing her keep her eyes open, however, Iwasaki cringed as Kouta was grabbed around the throat and thrown against the window pane, where a sharp crack sounded as Kouta flinched.

Miraculously managing to keep on his feet, Kouta threw a punch at Hanabishi. It grazed his chin just barely, and Hanabishi had no reaction other than to knee Kouta in the gut without inhibition. Kouta's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped, but Hanabishi didn't let him collapse.

Ruthlessly gripping the back of Kouta's head, Hanabishi thrust him against the glass repeatedly, his eyes merciless as Kouta's hands fumbled, with increasing feebleness, against the wall in a vain attempt to push away from the window.

Staggering to her feet, Iwasaki grit her teeth and ignored the shrill scream of pain her ribs were giving her. Bounding towards Hanabishi, she spun around and delivered a sharp spin-kick to the back of his neck. Though she knew by the feel of impact that it hadn't done as much damage as she would have hoped, he sucked in his breath and let go of Kouta, who slumped against the wall with a low moan.

Her landing was clumsy, and Hanabishi saw it. She hastily collected herself, her eyes trained on Hanabishi. He gave her a twisted smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"So it's you I should be worried about, huh?" He chuckled mirthlessly. "The idiots looked down on you for being female. I get it now."

She spread her stance, keeping her arm up in a tight guard, now aware of what she was up against. Knowing did nothing to ease the rising sense of fear and panic in her throat. His attack on Kouta just now had been purely violent, so needlessly malicious. Her heart was palpitating in a frenzy she'd never felt before, but she wasn't about to start thinking about that now.

His first blow felt like it would crack her arm in two. She didn't let up her guard, however; throwing her numbing arm up to ward off his other fist, she thrust her other elbow into his stomach.

'That feels like a damn wall!'

She didn't manage to avoid his leg sweeping under her, and she landed hard on her rear with a sharp yelp. He kicked her onto the floor, her chin smarting as her back bounced against the concrete. She let out a loud yell she couldn't stop as he crushed his heel against her shoulder, and squinted up at him helplessly, feeling hot blood gush into her mouth.

His eyes were cold and unmoving as he looked down at her. She hadn't realised how enormous his actual countenance was until now.

"I don't care much for treating girls differently," He rasped, "Especially ones like you."

He reached down for her, his rigid face and outstretched fingers looming towards her, and Iwasaki couldn't stop it - she choked out a scream.

Suddenly, Hanabishi let out a harsh yell and jerked backwards. Iwasaki stared as Kouta squeezed his arms around Hanabishi's neck as tightly as he could, all karate techniques he knew be damned, his brown eyes only looking at her.

"Iwasaki-san - run!" He barely managed, before Hanabishi clenched one of his arms and pried him off without ceremony. Kouta flung his other fist against Hanabishi's face immediately, however, and it connected. Iwasaki stared as Hanabishi's lower lip began to bleed freely, his eyes slightly unfocused - he'd clearly not been expecting the punch - but then his eyes refocused and narrowed. As he glared at Kouta, however, Kouta shot a look at Iwasaki.

"Iwasaki-san!" Kouta gasped out, and as he did he threw something at her. She caught its flash in the dying sunlight before it bounced off the wall behind her and clattered onto the floor.

When had Kouta gotten the key from Hanabishi's pocket? Iwasaki realised it must have been when he'd tackled him, and scrambled towards it, her eyes on the small, shining key.

Hanabishi threw Kouta onto the ground with a snarl, and in two strides reached Iwasaki's outstretched fingers just inches from the key. She let out a pained yell as he crushed her arm under his heel, and with his other foot, he kicked the key into the drainpipe. Iwasaki heard it clatter with dying echoes all the way down, biting her lip, and looked up at Hanabishi apprehensively. But he wasn't paying attention to her anymore.

"You little RUNT," Hanabishi seethed, his eyes boring into Kouta, and he charged at him. In a flash, he'd shoved Kouta against the wall so hard Iwasaki heard Kouta's lungs empty completely. As Hanabishi drew his fist back, Kouta was frozen, his eyes startled as he raised his arms weakly to guard-

"No!" The word exploded from Iwasaki's mouth, her throat tightening, when simultaneously a blur of midnight blue flashed before her eyes.

The next thing she saw was the back of a Sakuradamon student, his chest heaving and his fist raised as the Shin Sakura student fell back, clutching at his nose. Kouta's eyes were saucers as he gasped,

"S-Sawamura-san!"

Iwasaki had never expected that at any time in her life she'd ever feel such a flood of relief at the sight of the Mad Dog.

* * *

Watching the guy in front of him suffer from the nose he'd just about broken wasn't as satisfying as it should have been. Sickened though Seiji was that Kouta looked like he'd been through hell, and the girl behind him - who looked vaguely familiar - also bloodied up, the rising urgency to find Midori was at its peak. It only pissed him off to find that there was now an entirely new obstacle, one that didn't go down with one of his right-handed punches.

"Get back, Shingyouji," Seiji said sharply, drawing his fist back and wincing slightly, and Kouta obediently scrambled off to the side.

The after-effects of fighting the entire army of goons still hadn't worn off, and probably wouldn't for days. They made even flexing his fingers hurt, much to his chagrin, but he couldn't think about that now. The Shin Sakura student before him seemed to be over the initial bout of pain, and was now wiping at his nose roughly, his dark eyes glinting at Seiji.

"I see why they call you 'devil-handed'," He said thickly, but Seiji was in no mood for taunts or idle chit-chat.

"Where's Midori?" He demanded, but it was Kouta who replied,

"On this floor, Sawamura-san." He was wheezing slightly, clutching at his ribs as he spoke, but his eyes were clear and bold as he looked at Seiji. "But the key..."

"Leave it to me," The girl said suddenly, picking herself up a little shakily, "Just take this guy down, please." With that, she turned and sprinted down the stairs; Seiji heard her shoes skidding.

"Iwasaki-san!" Kouta exclaimed after her, his brows furrowed in concern, but she was already out of earshot.

"What's going on?" Seiji demanded, and Kouta looked at him worriedly.

"He had the only copy of the key, and-"

"Who-?" Seeing Kouta's eyes dart towards the Shin Sakura guy, Seiji got the hint and said urgently, "So is Midori alone?"

"Kiriyama's with her," The Shin Sakura guy cut in, a smirk on his lips as he added, "He's not happy about the delay in the plans, and I hate to think how might be taking it out on your girlfriend."

As the words sank in, for a moment, all Seiji could do was make a strange spluttering sound. Imagining Midori, sweet, innocent Midori, in the same room alone with that bastard was just-

"Can't I bust open the door?" Seiji snapped at Kouta, but he answered grimly,

"That's impossible. It's made of metal. Iwasaki-san's run off to get the key because that thug threw it down the drainpipe."

Seiji whipped his eyes back to the Shin Sakura student, an obstacle clearly intent on bringing him down.

"You'd clear off if you knew how pissed off I am right now." The words came out jerkily as Seiji tried to keep his hands steady; they were already beginning to shake.

"I'm Hanabishi Kyousuke, number one at Shin Sakura. Do you really think you can get past me?" The Shin Sakura thug said softly, and that was all Seiji needed before he rushed in.

* * *

Hanabishi was taking way too long, that smug bastard.

Kiriyama knew that Hanabishi wasn't a real match for Seiji. He was strong, there was no denying that, but Seiji was stronger. Kiriyama knew this, but he also knew that Seiji was weakened by all the punks Kiriyama had thrown at him. A lucky punch would probably do him in. Then they could proceed with the plan as usual.

But Hanabishi had to be lucky, first.

Why Hanabishi's cronies had been deterred by any of Seiji's friends was completely beyond Kiriyama, however. He wasn't stupid; he'd done his homework, and had looked intensively into the friends surrounding Seiji before he'd set the plan in motion.

What he'd found was that Seiji was almost completely cut out of the circle of underground fighting. Terrifyingly strong though he still was, it seemed he had no other like himself as a pal to rely on as a capable fighting partner.

Sure, he had a load of dweeby underclassmen who worshipped the ground he walked on, all small fry. And there was that freaky looking girl who sometimes talked to Seiji, who always had a hairband on, and though there were some weird rumours about her she hardly spoke to Seiji anyway so she was a non-issue.

There was a girl in one of the senior years who had been hellbent on whipping Seiji back in shape a few months back, but she no longer seemed even the slightest bit interested in the Mad Dog these days. If she had been, she might have posed as a problem. It was a good thing his sister wasn't in Japan at the moment, because if she had been, she'd most likely set half the gangs in Japan on them. As it was currently, however, Kiriyama saw no one else Seiji was friends with, other than his girlfriend.

Speaking of which...

He looked carefully at her for a moment. Her posture was straight-backed, but awkwardly so, as though she normally slouched and wasn't quite used to such a rigid spine. She had pressed her lips together in a small, flat line, most likely unaware that a dab of Kiriyama's blood - from where she had bit him - smeared the side of her mouth. Her eyes were a clear blue that had that sad puppy look thing going on most of the time, probably because of the general slant of her eyebrows, but at the moment they were bright and shining with a flare of hope she couldn't hide. She'd been like that since he'd hung up with Hanabishi several minutes ago.

"You're seriously deluded, y'know that?"

His voice was cutting in the silence, and she blinked at him in surprise and confusion.

"S-sorry?"

"It didn't have to be you." Kiriyama drilled a cold stare into her eyes, waiting to see them cloud. "Sawamura was always a lonely guy. His track record of being rejected a million times is no joke, he was so desperate. He wanted someone to warm him up at night, if you catch my drift."

He didn't know whether to be amused or sickened by the way her cheeks suddenly flushed at his words, her mouth moving wordlessly for a few seconds, as though she were recalling a memory Kiriyama was certain he didn't want to know about.

"Seiji-kun is not a desperate person." She finally said, frowning as she spoke, and he was disappointed to see she actually meant it. He had the sudden urge to mimick her and show her how annoying she sounded.

"He's desperate to save you now," Kiriyama replied instead, and felt his mouth twist into a half-smile. "This is the sad thing about hot shots who finally get a girlfriend. They start thinking the girl means everything. Looking at how he seems to thinks a flat-chested bore like you is actually worth this much trouble... the poor sap."

She did flinch when he called her a 'flat-chested bore', to his satisfaction, but she immediately looked more angry at his last few words than his insult to her.

"You cannot talk," She shot back, her eyes narrow, "You're the one who needs help. You're going through all this trouble yourself just so you could hurt him, who would-"

"Real touching, Princess," Kiriyama interrupted, dropping down and forcing her chin up with an iron grip, "Except, I'm not the one who needs help here."

Her skin felt cool under his fingers, slightly sticky from where her tears had dampened her cheeks. As he glared at her, the hope in her eyes never faltered. Her lower lip stuck out stubbornly, refusing to tremble as she retorted, "I disagree."

"Really?" He whispered.

He closed his hands around her throat. She was too startled for a moment to respond appropriately, but when she realised what was happening she tried to wrest herself from his grip. As she began to choke, her fingers fumbling uselessly around his wrists, he tightened his hold, his cold eyes unchanging. When fear dripped from her lashes, scalding his skin in the cold room, satisfaction seeped in and he let go of her roughly. He stood up abruptly, dusting his hands as he hissed, "Still disagree?"

Her only response was to cough harshly, getting air back into her lungs, but she seemed to already regret crying as she scowled at him.

Her expression jolted to one of shock when Kiriyama abruptly kicked out at a bunch of chairs at the side of the room, so hard the wood splintered where he'd kicked.

'You gotta stop that.'

Kiriyama blinked. He'd suddenly heard Seiji's voice in his head, from way back in his middle school days. He saw, once again, Seiji's exasperated expression as he'd leaned against the park bench Kiriyama had just kicked when he'd realised he'd lost his keys. Seiji had shaken his head slightly as Kiriyama nursed the new bruise on his big toe.

'Some day you'll actually break a bone. You gotta take more care of your temper, Kiriyama.'

'But what am I gonna do for the next three hours?'

'Just hang at my house 'til your pop comes home. Then it's okay, right?'

He'd grinned, and Kiriyama had grinned back.

He kicked the chairs again angrily, the clanging cacophony cutting into the memory. He was startled to hear Seiji's girlfriend say hesitantly, "Uhm... you might hurt yourself like that..."

Whipping around, he glared at her and kicked the chairs once again for good measure, ignoring her wince.

God, he hated her.

Then it occurred to him.

He had a phone with a camera in it. Was there any real need to wait?

When Kiriyama looked at Seiji's girlfriend this time, the look of hesitant worry faded immediately, and her face paled.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

A/N: Reformatting goes on, and some minor edits, too.


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Negotiator

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Sixteen: Negotiator**

* * *

'Damn it!'

Seiji rubbed his knuckes roughly against his lower lip, trying not to sway as he tottered backwards. He could feel the warm trickle of blood, but sucked at it quickly before dashing into range once more. He threw as much weight as he could muster into his next rush of punches, but all he felt was the occasional graze that wouldn't hurt the bastard nearly enough. The fist that came flying into his nose was unexpected, and Seiji barely avoided getting his nose broken as he jerked back so fast his neck cricked.

Stepping out of range again, Seiji had to admit to himself, it was taking way too much effort to even keep standing; his knees were begging to buckle and his fists had long grown into deadweights. Hanabishi, on the other hand, looked fairly relaxed as he watched Seiji with his dark eyes, an arrogant smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

His desperation to get his opponent on the floor sprawled as fast as possible was messing with his usual rhythm. Hanabishi's eyes were as hard and cool as his smile, clearly reading victory in every sloppy move of Seiji's. It was driving Seiji insane to know that if he could just get a couple of his punches to connect, he'd have Hanabishi on the floor in seconds, but the sleek bastard was way too fast for Seiji's liking.

The moment he saw an opening, Seiji dashed in and attempted a heavy body blow, but Hanabishi side-stepped it swiftly and gave him a sharp pair of punches to the jaw.

Though Seiji was used to being beaten up, it was another thing altogether to get hit with such precise jabs, neither lacking in power, in such quick succession. Feeling his brain rattle in his skull, Seiji blinked hard against his blurring vision and managed to get a lousy punch into Hanabishi's face. It came across more like a shove, which made Seiji cringe inwardly, but at least he got the guy to back off from fighting range.

In this infuriating haze of frustration, Seiji vaguely heard Shingyouji call out,

"Sawamura-san, calm down!"

A split second of a vision, of Midori gagged and helpless at the hands of that other Shin Sakura bastard back at the abandoned gas station, flickered in Seiji's mind.

"They've got Midori!" He bellowed back, "How the hell am I supposed to calm down?"

Seiji charged forward, ignoring the screams of agony torn from his mucles, and this time, he finally felt the full weight of his opponent as he rammed his fist into Hanabishi, hard, in the stomach.

Immediately afterward, however, Seiji felt the stomach muscles tauten extravagantly, and his heart sank.

'Damn! Does this guy do a thousand crunches a day or something?'

With a grunt, Hanabishi shoved Seiji off roughly before barreling into him with his shoulder. Seiji staggered, taking a few steps back, and willed his legs not to shake as he glared hard at Hanabishi. Hanabishi was not completely unfazed; Seiji's blow had had some effect, as he was no longer looking quite so relaxed or confident.

Still, Seiji was furious with himself. Who cared if he felt like his body was about to fall to pieces? Midori was in danger...!

This time, Hanabishi took the initiative, and smashed through Seiji's belated attempt at a guard. The punch to his jaw made Seiji's world swirl; struggling to keep balance, he swayed, and Hanabishi let out a low, harsh laugh of triumph.

Shingyouji's voice seemed to be calling his name desperately, but Seiji could hardly register them further than distant echoes. Everything was a harsh blur of colour, but more pressingly he felt powerful fist after fist thrust upon his already beaten arms that were barely covering his face and chest.

Then, for just one second, Seiji's arm lowered just the slightest and a brief gap opened. Hanabishi did not hesitate, and Seiji's eyes bulged at the stunning blow to his diaphragm.

Staggering, Hanabishi's leer seemed to loom over Seiji, pulsating like a bad dream. With all strength draining from his body, Seiji fell to his knees with a heavy thud, an empty wheeze escaping his lips as his forehead hit the concrete.

The tip of Hanabishi's shoe nudged his head sharply, his low voice tutting over him and breathing heavily, "Is that all you got, Mad Dog?"

'Damn it...'

Midori...

_'Seiji-kun.'_

In the midst of the ebbing world of sound and colour, her voice pleaded in his ears.

_'Seiji-kun, you should take more care of yourself.'_

When had she said that? He finally managed to suck some air into his lungs, though it hurt, and the ebbing world pulsed with strength for a moment.

He remembered. She'd asked him that when she saw the mess of scars on his back. And then she'd declared she wasn't worried about herself at all, only for him. That idiot.

But he was making that idiot worry even now, he was sure of it. She must be wondering what was taking him so long to find her. Who cared if she told him not to follow? She knew him better than anyone else did. She knew he would no matter what she said.

After all, he'd promised to protect her. He'd sworn he'd be more than enough. She'd taught him how it felt to have something to cherish, how it felt to have someone worth protecting with your life. She'd never stopped trying to make him a better person.

And she'd hate to see him the way he was now, so lost in fury he was incompetent to a laughable degree. She'd hate to see how much it seemed to cost him to try and save her by the number of bruises he was gaining.

Seiji saw her in his mind once more, her quiet form across him at the coffee table as they studied together, the way her eyes lit and filled with warmth when she caught him looking.

He coughed hard, feeling his gut strain in protest, but his lungs began to work properly once more.

'I'm the idiot.'

It would take more than a hot head and impatience to save her, which was all he normally was, or at least, had been. What it would take to save Midori was to be what she had shown him he could be.

In all the times he'd been desperate, when he'd been plunged in loneliness, when he'd been suffering inside from a lack of something more meaningful, Midori had still believed in him. She'd given him a reason to try harder than his circumstances would normally allow. And now, he knew that just being reminded of her was saving him once again.

Pushing himself back up to his feet, Seiji looked up at Hanabishi and let out his breath slowly, his head no longer swimming.

'I'm coming, Midori.'

* * *

Kouta had watched Sawamura beat up people before. If he had to describe Sawamura, he would have normally said he was a ball of pure violence, prepared to lash out at just about anything in his path, whether it was living or not.

When Sawamura had first arrived on the scene, Kouta felt his usual description would have fit perfectly. The Mad Dog had been completely deaf to Kouta's worried cries beseeching him to cool his head before Hanabishi could take further advantage of it; Kouta had watched helplessly as Sawamura threw his fists haphazardly at Hanabishi without fanfare, baring his teeth and growling with frustration as none of them connected.

The moment Sawamura hit the floor on his knees, Kouta had felt a powerful stab of despair.

Is this it, Sawamura-san? He'd been desperate to shout, a mixture of anger and frustration bubbling through his concern. Is this all you are? Midori-chan needs you. What are you doing on the floor?

Before the words could form on his lips, however, Sawamura suddenly laughed under his breath. Wheezing slightly, he'd picked himself up onto his feet, and Kouta caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were clearer and sterner than he'd ever seen them.

Sawamura's strength had never failed to impress Kouta. However, when Hanabishi charged at Sawamura this time round, it wasn't the violence that was impressing Kouta now.

It was his control.

It didn't seem to take much effort for Sawamura to dodge every blow Hanabishi delivered after he got up. He dodged swiftly with a precision Kouta hadn't seen in him before, his eyes trained on every move Hanabishi made. As Hanabishi's confusion from Sawamura's sudden rise in concentration began to mount, it showed in his expression and his increasingly impatient movements. Finally, his teeth clenched and his eyes ablaze, he lunged at Sawamura, his huge palms clearly intent in crushing him against the window.

Sawamura slipped past the attempt swiftly, and ducking under the outstretched arms, he grabbed Hanabishi by the front of his shirt. Kouta could see by Hanabishi's widened eyes that he had only just realised he'd missed before he was thrown over Sawamura's shoulder.

With a strangled yell of surprise and pain, the Shin Sakura thug crashed against the wall with remarkable force. He slumped onto the ground, and to Kouta's intense relief but not exactly surprise, the thug lay motionless and out for the count.

Sawamura was breathing heavily, his body slightly hunched as though standing straight hurt him, and he winced as he rotated his shoulder under his hand. Kouta realised he was staring with his mouth open again, and hastily forced himself up from the ground. Though Kouta felt like he'd broken something in his torso, Sawamura looked clearly battered beyond normal human limits. And Kouta remembered that he had to take him to where Midori was.

He nodded at Sawamura, and with Kouta in lead, they ran towards where Midori was supposed to be: the old storage room. The moment Kouta lay eyes on the metal door, however, he felt his chest constrict as a wave of hopelessness hit him. It only felt worse when Sawamura spent the next minute or so rattling at the frame, banging on it with his fists and in his attempt to pry the door open, nearly ripped his arms out of his sockets.

Though he looked like he would have gladly fallen asleep right then and there, Sawamura's voice betrayed none of his exhaustion as he asked, "Your friend went to get the key, right?"

Kouta nodded, and Sawamura closed his eyes briefly, letting his breath out in a harsh puff through his teeth.

"I can't wait on your friend forever, Shingyouji. That piece of Shin Sakura crap took long enough as it is." Looking at Kouta, he asked urgently, "Are you sure there's no other way into that room, other than that metal door?"

Kouta was about to shake his head with regret, when he stopped.

"What is it?"

Sawamura had caught Kouta's stricken look. Kouta felt his heart throb as he thought about what he was about to say, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Th-there is one other way in..."

* * *

"What are you planning to accomplish by all this?"

Her voice was starting to grate on his nerves. He supposed an answer wouldn't be too indulgent at this point.

"It's a barricade," He said shortly, hoisting another chair over his shoulder, and with a noisy clang and a small cloud of dust and splinters, the chair balanced precariously on top of three others. Without pausing, he turned and dragged a desk towards him, and began to turn it upside-down.

"I- I know that." She paused, her lips pursed slightly. "It doesn't... look very safe." She eyed the towering columns of chairs and desks stacked up together against the door, and asked dubiously, "How do you plan on taking it down again?"

"Yeah, well," Kiriyama grunted as he shoved the desk onto another column of chairs, "I think you're missing the point here, Princess."

As if on cue, there was a loud bang against the door that resonated through the room like a gunshot. Kiriyama bit the inside of his lip, keeping his stare cool and collected as he glanced at the door. It didn't take a genius to know who was causing such a ferocious racket; the frame rattled like crazy and the towers of chairs and desks trembled.

But it stayed firm.

Her eyes trained on the door, she scrambled hurriedly to her feet, but Kiriyama shoved her down again, roughly.

"Smile for the camera, Princess," He rasped, and with one hand, he gripped her around the base of her neck and jerked her forward. Randomly angling his phone with his other hand, he once more pressed his mouth against hers forcibly.

There was no moment of shock this time; she immediately pushed from him violently, gasping, but he did not loosen the pincer-like grip he had on her neck.

"Look at that," He said mirthlessly, shoving the screen at her eyes where it displayed a disjointed series of thumbnails depicting what had just transpired, "That's just the beginning. Sawamura's gonna have kittens." She didn't even look at the screen, however, her eyes trained on Kiriyama's strangely.

"How could you live with yourself?" Her words came in a whisper amidst the wild thrashing against the door outside, but he heard them far too clearly.

"I could ask the same from you," Kiriyama snapped, "I saw your face when I said it before. That you took the life of a perfectly good guy and turned him into something pathetic. You can't deny-"

"I've already told you, he changed before I met him!" He hated how she was looking straight at him as she spoke, her eyes deadset and firm. "I was upset at what you said about us being in different worlds. We grew up differently, so it's true... to some extent. And maybe, if we weren't dating, Seiji-kun would have been someone very different. But. Seiji-kun chose to change, himself. He told you this already!"

Kiriyama stared at her, startled to hear this; how the hell did she know what Sawamura had said to him that day? Taking no notice of his surprise, however, she ploughed on: "And it wasn't because of me, it was always in him. In fact, you have it the wrong way round."

Kiriyama felt something jerk painfully at his gut when her eyes filled with tears and she whispered, "It was Seiji-kun who changed me. It was him who pulled me out of the way I used to be. He took a step out of his life and helped me out of my own. Seiji-kun and I..."

She turned away just slightly, but Kiriyama could see it wasn't from her lack of conviction. The pounding at the door stopped, just in time for Midori to speak softly, her cheeks slightly pink as she finished her sentence.

"...Seiji-kun and I form our own world."

"Why am I listening to your drivel?" The words spilled jerkily out of Kiriyama's mouth as shoved his phone onto a desk haphazardly, and setting it to record, he gripped her tightly. When he looked her face, however, he did not like what he saw. Her face had slackened, her eyes suddenly bright with clarity.

"You said Seiji-kun could have been invincible in your world. But what is it to you if he chose not to be?"

"I just can't stand how pathetic he is," He snarled, avoiding her eyes, and she suddenly sucked in her breath sharply, as though she had just realised something.

"All this time..."

When he glanced at her, and saw her expression, the words of fury burst from his mouth before he could think about it.

"Shut the hell up! As though you know anything about me!"

He yelled it too late; he was unable to drown out the last of her words as she stared at him with dawning comprehension.

"You're jealous."

She said it simply, in a voice slightly surprised, and utterly without malice. Her eyes grew round as she gazed at him with increasing pity.  
There was a silence.

He tried to express how preposterous her words were, but he could barely speak beyond a splutter.

Then, he stopped trying to speak. Instead, he struck her down hard, ignoring the dust that flew up, stinging his eyes. He gripped her struggling arms, not caring that her nails were digging deeply into his wrists. As his eyes drilled into hers, the words fighting out her throat died down.

She finally fell silent, her blue eyes wide and incredulous, a mixture of concern and pity, a gaze he couldn't take. Blocking all thoughts from his mind, he grabbed at her uniform, desperate to rip her apart.

* * *

"Shingyouji, you bring me up the roof and tell me this is the only way in? What. The. Hell."

"I'm sorry, Sawamura-san! It's just that... I can't think of any other way than this."

"I'm just surprised you even came up with this method. You're crazier than I thought! Awesome."

"A-awesome-?"

"I'm going to need a lot of that rope and help, here. Give me a hand."

"Y-yes!"

* * *

And here she was, completely helpless once again.

Midori let out a shuddering gasp as Kiriyama's icy fingers groped under her uniform, and though her eyes were already sore, the tears came anyway, hotly dripping past her chin.

She was just stupid, so incredibly stupid. She had told Seiji that he should take better care of himself, had lectured him on it, even.

How could she lecture him when she couldn't even take care of herself? She didn't deserve to cry.

*I'm sorry Seiji-kun.*

She could barely feel Kiriyama's hands on her now; all she could see in her eyes was the look on Seiji's face when he found out he'd failed to stop this from happening. And she knew no matter how much she tried to make him see, he wouldn't understand that he wasn't the failure here.

"...Seiji-kun."

His name came from her lips in a sob, completely involuntary.

CRACK.

Both Kiriyama and Midori froze, their heads snapping up to where the noise had sounded.

The single window was clouded with cracks that shone white in the grimy glass. A dark shadow loomed before a massive blow against the dirty window landed with another ear-splitting crack. Bits of glass tinkled onto the floor.

"What the-" Kiriyama managed before a deafening crash drowned out the rest of his expletives, and Seiji landed with a slight stagger amidst a billowing dust cloud as glass shards showered the floor.

Midori wondered for a moment if she was hallucinating, but there was no mistaking it when Seiji lowered his arms from his face, bits of glass rustling off his sleeves as he did. He looked at her through strained eyes, his face swollen with numerous bruises and cuts, and without pausing to breathe, he started towards her.

"No closer, Mad Dog," Kiriyama snarled, though he spoke with difficulty, and gripping Midori's arms he yanked her towards him, his eyes venomous and trained on Seiji. Seiji's eyes flickered with fury. However, he kept his fists at his side, and only said,

"Get the hell away from my girlfriend, Satoshi."

Kiriyama bristled immediately, and Midori couldn't stop the small cry of pain as his grip tightened.

"I guess only you could do this," Kiriyama said, his words rapid and feverish as he glared at Seiji, "Though it looks like it cost you quite a bit to get through Hanabishi. He's one powerful son of a bitch, isn't he?"

"Stop it," Seiji said, his voice quiet but extremely cutting, "I don't get you. It's me you've got a bone to pick with. How could you even come up with this crap? Are you insane?"

There was something different about Seiji, Midori realised. He wasn't anything like he'd been like when the Shin Sakura students had had her at the gas station. Something had changed inexplicably about the way he was holding himself. Whatever the change was exactly was hard to say, but it was unnerving Kiriyama quite a bit.

"I'm not the one who's swooning over this unimpressive bitch!" Kiriyama shouted suddenly, spit flying, "I'm not the one who betrayed all the guys who looked up to you! You're pathetic!"

When Seiji said nothing, and only looked unnervingly silently at Kiriyama, Kiriyama continued to rant.

"Do you know how many people you've managed to piss off in the past few years that are more than ready to get your neck? You're a legend, Mad Dog Sawamura. I always knew you'd be when you were back with me in our middle school days. But you threw that all away. You could have been so big."

"Do you think I care about that?" Seiji's eyes were cool, his stance still completely non-threatening. "None of that matters to me anymore. It actually never did."

"What are you talking about?" Kiriyama's mouth was twisted in a strange half-smile as he looked at Seiji with panic in his eyes. "Can you say you didn't have any fun when you were with me? Taking out entire gangs of cocky bastards, ditching class to play pool, scheming to vandalise the most hilarious- Can you say that freedom didn't mean anything to you? We ruled that world, Seiji. You know we did!"

"Yeah?" Seiji let out a hollow laugh, casting his eyes down for a moment. "Did we really rule that world, Satoshi? I somehow don't think so. Actually, I-"

"Don't give me that crap!" Kiriyama seethed, his eyes narrowed and furious, but Seiji said more loudly,

"Even if we did, I really don't give a crap. Of course I had fun with you, back in our middle school days. I can't deny that. But I've changed now. It's not enough for me anymore."

"Wha... What?"

Seiji looked at Kiriyama with a calm gaze, and said quietly, "Let her go. She's done nothing to you."

"Do you have any idea what it took to come up with this plan? Do you really think I had that much fun coming up with it?" Kiriyama's eyes flashed as he jostled Midori roughly, Midori flinching as he did so, but she kept staring at Kiriyama's pained eyes. "Everyone's too simple-minded. They don't know how much she's your weakness! All they can think of are petty little revenge attempts that do nothing but earn them a lot of pain. I was the one who thought of a way to stick a damn set of reins on you. That's all you're good for now!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Midori couldn't help it; the words spilled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Before Kiriyama could say anything back, however, Seiji said in a low, final tone,

"That's enough. The Kiriyama Satoshi I knew would have come up with this sort of plan easily, because you're damn smart with those kinda things. I know that. But he would have never gone this far to hurt someone deliberately, himself. Not unless he had a good reason."

Kiriyama let out a cross between a howl and a cry that startled Midori enough to make her jump; then Kiriyama gripped her around the neck with his arm, his next few words hissing against her ear as she tried fruitlessly to pry his arm off.

"What do you know about me?" He spat, "What the hell does a pathetic loser like you know about anything? You don't have the right to stand there and lecture me like you've seen it all. You don't have a freaking clue!"

When Seiji didn't move, and only continued to look steadily at Kiriyama, he continued, seemingly unaware of the rising hysterical tone to his voice.

"It's not easy, Seiji. The world you left behind is insane. You don't know what it takes to stay alive in this world, and stay on top. You don't know how freaking difficult it is."

Finally, Seiji spoke, but his eyes and his words were laden with concern.

"What happened?"

The question elicited from Kiriyama a wild, broken laugh.

"You were supposed to be there!" He was breathing heavily, no longer caring that his eyes were wrought with tears. "You were the only one who would have been able to stop me from sinking so deep. Instead you ditched me in the dark and went traipsing around with some random, stupid little girl who thinks you can survive in her world. But you can't!" He laughed harshly, bitterly. "You can't, and you know it! Time will prove it!"

"We're all in the same world, Satoshi," Seiji said, his eyes intense. "It's not a matter of dropping out of one and into another. Everyone has a choice, no matter how you're making it out to be."

"No!" The word shot out of Kiriyama like a bullet, vehemence straining his voice. "I knew you wouldn't understand. I don't have a choice!"

"Get a grip, Satoshi!" Now, Seiji finally let his voice rise, his fists clenching. "You told me you didn't want to be friends anymore. You cut ties with me and said I wasn't worth your time. I get it. We've made decisions to go down different paths, after all."

Midori had never seen Seiji contain this much anger before; his eyes were full of cold fury as he spoke, every syllable icy and cutting.

"But you're still angry with me for some reason, so angry you come up with this sick plan. And now, it's my fault that you can't stop it? That's a load of crap, and you know it. Now get your hands off Midori, and just tell me what it is you want me to do. Tell me how I can help you. Weren't we friends before this?"

Kiriyama looked like he was trying to say something, but stopped.

Seiji was looking at him directly in the eye, not with menace, but with an inexplicable power. They stared at each other for a long moment.

Finally, Kiriyama's face slackened, and he dropped his gaze. His eyes listless, he suddenly let go of Midori, and backed off with his hands raised. She stared at Kiriyama for a moment, lost in a strange sense of pity and sadness as he looked away, his eyes unreadable.

She didn't have much more time to dwell on him, however. Immediately, warm hands were grasping at her shoulders, and she looked up to see Seiji looking at her with look that could burn.

"Midori."

Even if she hadn't been able to see how much physical pain he was in with all the blood and bruises peppering his face, the way his voice sagged with relief was enough to make her eyes well.

"What the hell were you even doing at the park?" Seiji asked, his voice sounding strained and irritated, but his face nothing but worry. "I knew there were bastards after you. I knew it, but you said you were going to be taken straight home. What happened?"

"I..." Midori flushed slightly as she whispered, "I just... I wanted to see you."

Seiji sank to his knees, completely exhausted, and fell against her slightly as he mumbled, "Geez, Midori..."

"I-I'm sorry," She stammered, consumed with concern, but feeling the familiar heat rise up her cheeks at his close proximity. "Seiji-kun... you..." She simply didn't have the words to express how she felt to see him so completely beaten up on her account. Her eyes still filled with unshed tears, she just held his face in her hands for a moment, looking at him.

He clasped at her hands clumsily, clearly having some problems moving without pain, and said quietly, "I'm sorry for being late."

She couldn't help laughing through her tears.

* * *

If Kiriyama looked back, he could recall the trigger with crystal detail.

He'd hatched a plan to ditch the rooms they were supposed to be staying at, during a class trip to Kyoto that one time in their first year of middle school. With all the teacher security and bossy class presidents, it hadn't been easy, but Kiriyama had known who to ask for fake alibis and a way out of the motel without getting caught.

They'd pulled it off without getting noticed, and Kiriyama even managed to befriend a couple of locals who gave them free beer all night.

After that, Kiriyama was known as the mastermind when the guys felt like wreaking havoc, or having fun out of bounds. And it wasn't for nothing, either.

Even back in their middle school days, though he and Seiji had worked together to beat up entire gangs - and Kiriyama's fist was pretty mean - he'd never been able to quite match up to Seiji's strength. But Kiriyama's craftiness had been more than enough.

Still, Kiriyama had always looked up to Seiji. Seiji was the kind of guy people pulled strings to get closer to.

Yet Seiji had reached out and, actively, cut the strings around him. Then he'd stepped out of the ring and called it quits.

As much as that had infuriated Kiriyama, he'd forced himself to cool it. Seiji's just another loser, after all, he'd told himself. Get over the disappointment and find someone else to look up to.

And so, he'd lived on as usual. He'd found other friends who appreciated the life Seiji had thrown away, and through those friends, he'd found deeper, darker circles. The underground was a world full of terrifying violence and a lust for the most bizarre fetishii, and Kiriyama was quick to know what made someone tick and how to use it to his advantage. He orchestrated hundreds of acts of mayhem from behind the scenes, and soon, he had a codename: Spider. His social network was easily comparable to an all-encompassing web, with unfortunate randoms stuck as flies within it.

Pretty soon, he knew everything worth knowing about anyone worth knowing. He was an expert at coaxing out the worst secrets out of people, about other people, and then hoarding them away for a rainy day.

However, his social networks intersected at some points and didn't in others, which meant he had to be careful with where he treaded at times. Contradictions were necessary to maintain all his contacts, but they had to be kept completely under wraps or else he'd piss off not just one person but an entire stampede. He had to move carefully, delicately, one step at a time, or else he'd tear the delicate threads of his web - but that was all part of the thrill.

His dad and younger sister hadn't had a proper meal with him for years. They had long stopped trying to figure out what he was doing these days.

People all around knew his name, or if they didn't, they would find out eventually when they needed something done. He was a necessary middleman, the only one who had a person just about everywhere, who knew things to make someone talk or take action. If they wanted something to happen, they knew who to go to.

Knowing that he was going places, Kiriyama had smirked at the memory of Seiji. What an idiot, to walk away from this.

Then one day, Kiriyama came home one afternoon to an empty, silent house. Then his younger sister came home, and upon catching sight of her brother she grabbed the front of his uniform jacket, her eyes frighteningly wide as she screamed at him.

Dad was attacked last night. Four kids, baseball bats, smashed his skull in, took his briefcase. Dad might die, onii-chan.

All the blood had rushed out of Kiriyama's face.

The house crumbled into chaos. If Dad really died, their relatives lived in Kyuushu, a fairly remote place neither Kiriyama or his sister wanted to go to unless they really, really had to.

Soon, Kiriyama's sister had also quit school like him, but only because she was taking on extra part-time jobs in a desperate bid to pay the hospital bills that had quickly eaten up their savings. And after seeing how painfully clear it was that Kiriyama wasn't moving a finger to help out, she stopped talking to him at all, no matter how late he made it home.

But it wasn't because Kiriyama wasn't trying; it was that he couldn't. Money had never been a problem for Kiriyama before. Not only because his family had been decently well-off, but also because of his contacts. Most of his contacts gave him loads of stuff for free. He didn't need much money in the first place.

But now, he most definitely did. All of a sudden, Kiriyama found himself realising that even if he did have contacts in certain clinics, that would be dragging his family into being in contact with doctors contracted with certain members of the yakuza. They were doctors who did black market deals and covered up torn limbs from bloody near-death brawls as mere accidents. He couldn't risk that.

Another way was for him to get money, lots of it, through other people's profits by way of commission fees. He'd done it before when he'd needed money to buy the favour of another contact. But his family would want to know where the money came from. Money that came from seemingly nowhere always came from somewhere bad. And they'd be right.

No matter where he looked, the strings he had attached all around him were threatening to strangle him at just the smallest step. Working all day would confuse this person. Trying to get clean money would offend and raise suspicions of another three persons. Even showing he cared about his family would lose a lot of face with some of the tougher delinquents he'd befriended.

For the first time in his life, Kiriyama found himself standing in a thick, unfurling mass of the threads that he had carefully cast around him - but they couldn't save him, or his dad. He was stuck.

And he realised he wanted out. The guy who was supposed to know everything realised he didn't have a clue. He had no idea how the hell he was supposed to break out of the world he'd fallen into. He wasn't a spider. He was a freaking fly.

And that was when Kiriyama had finally looked back, and remembered.

There was one person who had been in Kiriyama's world, so deeply nettled in with the thugs that he was known in practically every school in Japan as the Mad Dog, with the Devil's Right Hand...

Seiji knew. He knew how to get out of it without looking back.

But as it turned out, he couldn't help him either.

* * *

It happened so suddenly. There was a sharp crack that rent the air, and a hissed curse of pain that stopped abruptly.

Seiji and Midori whipped their heads around. Kiriyama was holding onto his foot, glaring at the the tower of chairs and desks before him. Next, Kiriyama's sharp inhalement of breath was the only indication they got of his surprise before the enormous stack gave an ungainly wobble. Kiriyama wasn't able to get his foot back on the ground in time.

The relief at having been reunited with Midori had loosened every muscle in Seiji's body. His legs were dull, and refused to listen to him, but he tried. He moved, but far too slowly.

It was Midori who ran forward. Seiji could only watch, his eyes widening as she thrust her small weight against Kiriyama and pushed him out of the way.

The whole thing happened so fast, and so unexpectedly, that Seiji barely registered what was happening as he saw the pile of chairs and desks - the thick, heavy wood, the rusted metal frames with their sharp edges - collapse on top of her. Midori's small frame was immediately swallowed up in thick clouds of dust, the room drowning Seiji in wave of clanging and crashing.

For a moment, the only thing Seiji could do was stare, his mouth open and his eyes frantically wide.

The silence didn't last much longer than that, however. Her name tore out of his throat so painfully Seiji felt his eyes water as he rushed towards her.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author Notes: You know, reformatting is a pain. Also, one day, I'll have to go back and revise all the chapters for this fanfic to get it just right and in 100% sync with the manga. To get the details of Kiriyama right, and also, the timing of Midori's confession.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Suspension

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Seventeen: Suspension**

* * *

Kouta was still in disbelief that he had suggested the roof of all things as a means of getting into the storage room. The more shocking thing, of course, was that Sawamura had actually done it. The almighty crash of glass still ringing in his ears, Kouta hurried back down the spiralling stairs.

Jumping the last few steps, he came face to face with Iwasaki. Both let out startled yelps, but Iwasaki regained her composure fast.

"Kouta," She panted, "I've got the key," She held it out in her hand, and Kouta felt a stab somewhere at his chest when he saw how scratched and bloody her fingers were from clawing the key out of the rusty pipes. "Where's Sawamura-san?"

"Erm," Kouta said, feeling his neck grow hot, "I got Sawamura-san into the storage room through the roof."

"What?"

Kouta looked sheepish, and Iwasaki stared at him as though he had grown another head. Then, oddly enough, she looked like she was trying to suppress a smile as she said nonchalantly, "Well, I'm sure he'll appreciate a way out that's a lot easier than the bloody roof."

Just as she brandished the key before the metal door, a horrible, ear-splitting crash sounded. Before the echoes had quite died out, Sawamura's voice tore through, a violent, horrified yell.

It took a few seconds for Iwasaki to jostle the key into the keyhole because her hands were shaking, though she wasted no time in throwing the door open once it clicked.

As soon as she'd opened it, someone shot past Iwasaki roughly, a blur of dark clothes. Kouta began to turn towards the figure, but he stopped. There was something too wrong about the room. It was terribly still, save for the rapid, shallow breathing of Sawamura within. Iwasaki and Kouta stepped through the settling dust, and halted at the sight of Sawamura pulling the limp body of Midori from the midst of a cascade of chairs, into his arms.

"Midori-chan...?" Kouta said uncertainly, his voice wavering slightly, but Sawamura cut in more loudly,

"Midori, come on. You're okay, right? Please..."

This wasn't supposed to happen, Kouta found himself thinking as he stared at Sawamura's desperate attempts to revive Midori. They were supposed to have a dramatic, but sweet reunion. After all we went through to save her, things were supposed to be okay. Things had to be okay. The words felt weightless in his mind, however, and disappated completely when Sawamura let out a sharp gasp. He had cradled the back of Midori's head with his hand, and then suddenly drew his hand back. Iwasaki stared, uncomprehending, at the sight of deep, blotchy crimson coating his fingers.

Midori's eyelids were flickering, but her open mouth did nothing.

"A hospital," Kouta gasped; white noise replaced the silence in his head, rapidly rising in volume as he fished out his phone with trembling fingers and dialed.

* * *

The pale morning sunshine gently illuminated the classroom. Usually, at this time of the morning, only quiet murmurs, yawning and the rustle of papers carefully infiltrated the tranquility.

When Ayase walked in this morning, however, the air was taut with buzzing, every student wide-eyed as they wildly gesticulated, trying to talk loudly over one another.

It did not take long for Ayase to learn what was causing such a fuss before even registration began. She didn't know whether to bother being surprised or not as the first string of rumours were spoken feverishly amongst students all around her.

"-more than thirty students hospitalised - one of them's Minami's older brother-"

"What? So is he suspended? I heard they're all either expelled or suspended!"

"None of them are Ogurabashi students, right?"

"No, one of them was."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, it was all in the statement the principal made last night, they uploaded it on the SchoolNet blog-"

"I saw that too, but it's so vague in terms of what happened."

"Does your boyfriend know anything? He goes to Hanzoumon, right?"

"Well, all I know is that Mad Dog was involved, according to Takuto-kun."

"What? So is he suspended? Is that why he's not here?"

"Maybe, but the Ogurabashi principal said- here, check out the SchoolNet blog on my phone-"

"'The situation is still under investigation,' blah blah, 'following the emergency meeting between the principals and deputy principals of all involved schools earlier, all students known to be involved have been suspended until further notice. I am not yet at liberty to identify the schools involved, but I am able to quell most rumours in stating clearly Sakuradamon High was not involved in this incident. In the matters of expulsion, while I am unable to comment on any of the decisions made by other principals for students under their jurisdiction, I regret to say one student of Ogurabashi High will be facing expulsion as an indirect consequence of this incident, as after being taken by the police for questioning, he was found in possession of illegal substances. He is currently under police custody-"

"Do you see that, she made a firm statement that Sakuradamon wasn't involved."

"Wow! What would make her say that?"

"Well, she's Minami's cousin's grandmother, and Minami said the principal bumped into Mad Dog on the way to watch a basketball match. I don't know if this is true or not, but he was - apparently - 'really polite' to her and didn't seem like a bad sort, so she pretended not to notice what uniform he was wearing-"

"-no way! That can't be true-"

"Well, guess at least the rumour about his girlfriend at Ogurabashi was true after all!"

"Shinjirou said he overheard a little bit of Miyahara and Mad Dog talking, about some revenge plot against him- maybe they were using his girlfriend-"

"-wow, they really picked a fight with the wrong guy-"

"No one's going to want to deal with him after hearing about this, he's completely crazy-"

"-THIRTY STUDENTS!"

Ayase shook her head, sighing as she shuffled the pages of her literature assignment on her desk. Leave it to Sawamura to leave an impression, she thought wryly, but she felt much relieved to hear that the punks who had hurt Narushima-senpai were duly punished.

Then she heard one of the girls say in a low voice, "Did you hear about one of the Ogurabashi students getting hospitalised, though?"

"Yeah, I did... there was an ambulance and everything, someone nearly died. Might have died already, actually, who knows?"

"Does anyone know who it was, though? Was that person related to the whole Mad Dog mess?"

"I don't know... Kana was standing outside the gates, and she said she caught a glimpse of green hair on the stretcher..."

Neatly written pages of Ayase's assignment slipped from her fingers, fluttering to the floor as she sucked in her breath.

What?

* * *

It had been a total mistake letting the doctors examine him; what had been an insisted 'brief check-up' made the paramedics freak on the ambulance, and though he had intended to stay glued to Midori (or at least stay as close as possible) the doctors had forced him to stay put as they ran a series of tests to make sure he wasn't sporting anything worse than the outset.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on a hospital cot in a room full of snoozing patients, resembling a mummy. His head dully throbbed as his entire body finally began to ache with the exertion of all the excitement.

But when he closed his eyes, he saw it over again in his head; Midori getting crushed under the tower of desks and chairs. How he had been completely frozen to the spot, staring dumbly as the dust exploded around him, stinging his eyes and filling his open mouth. Even when he had forced his legs to move, he had tripped over himself, his muscles screaming painfully at him as he'd run towards-

Even with the memory torturing him, the physical exertion and the painful fear clawing at his chest dragged him into a very deep sleep that he could not stop.

When he opened his eyes again, warm pressure on his hands made him look down. Midori's slender fingers were holding his own, and he looked at her face, unable to stop the surge of extreme joy and relief at the sight of her gazing at him, smiling softly.

"Midori," He gasped, gathering her fingers into his own in a crushing grip, "Are-are you okay?"

"Of course I am, Seiji-kun," She murmured, her smile curving further, "I'm alright now."

"Oh- oh God," Seiji choked out, reaching for her cheek with his palm, his eyes rapidly filling against his will as he drew a ragged breath, "I was s-so- I'm so sorry-"

As his fingers brushed against her soft cheek, however, it was like touching wisps of smoke; immediately, her smile dissolved in a swirl of white bedsheets and pillows-

His eyes snapped open, his aching hands cold at his sides, his dry mouth sucking in a painful breath; and he realised only then that he had been dreaming, that the real Midori was lying somewhere in this hospital, heavily bandaged and unmoving, an oxygen mask over her small face...

When he tried to drag himself towards Midori's room, the nurses had all but strapped him down to the bed, and the doctor told him if he tried to move around without letting the muscles heal, Seiji was risking walking with a limp for the rest of his life. It seemed almost worth it just to be able to check on Midori, but one of the nurses then told him her mother was by her side, and that simultaneously calmed and terrified him at once.

Midori's mother. She was going to hate him, he knew it, and she had every right to - her daughter was trapped in a coma, once again, and it was entirely his fault.

When the same nurse said whenever Midori woke up, Seiji would be informed immediately, he found he wasn't so adverse to the idea of waiting on his bed after all.

But because he refused to fall asleep again, the waiting was mind-numbing. He'd managed to partially dislocate his shoulder and had broken his left leg when he'd crashed through the window, though luckily it wasn't too bad of a break. Even without the cast, however, with multiple fractures and minor sprains on his limbs and ribs, shredded ligaments and more bruised skin visible than non-bruised, his mobility was 'restricted' to say the least. He didn't think he'd be able to do anything to keep his mind off the waiting anyway, however.  
He had been there for what felt like hours when he noticed, vaguely, that he was thirsty. He hadn't had anything to drink or eat since the nurse had made him take painkillers that morning.

Still, he didn't move or call a nurse for the longest time, and he finally moved only when someone knocked on his door.

"How are you, Sawamura?"

"Ayase!" Seiji's voice cracked slightly as he tried to sit up, and smile at his classmate. "How'd you know-?"

"I asked Miyahara-kun. He's been crying endlessly for you all day, by the way."

Seiji let out a dry laugh as Ayase settled on one of the chairs next to his bed.

"I've brought your school assignments and some old textbooks from school," She said in a business-like tone, handing him a paper bag, "and I asked Miyahara-kun to buy your more personal items, so he'll be here in a bit."

He had not expected anyone to care whether he was hospitalised or not, and for a moment he was speechless. Misunderstanding his expression, Ayase rolled her eyes and huffed, "Look, I told the teacher you're very ill, so don't worry about that. Mid-terms are coming up soon, and I know how hard you've been studying lately to bring your grades up. You can't slack off last-minute and let all that effort go to waste."

"Sounds like something Midori would say," He said without thinking, and immediately a pang went through him. The air felt heavy. After a moment, Ayase said quietly,

"She'll be alright."

"How do you know? Did the doctors tell you anything?" The questions tumbled forth clumsily, eagerly, and from the way Ayase winced he realised how much hope was in his voice.

"Th-they did say she's no longer in critical condition, right?"

"So they're letting her mother transfer her out of here?"

"Oh... well, no. I suppose it's because she hasn't woken up yet. But I'm sure she'll be alright," She said, but she didn't know what Seiji did, that the blow to Midori's head had been hard enough to render her completely unresponsive to anything Seiji had desperately called out, and that his hands have been soaked with her blood by the time the paramedics had arrived...

"Sawamura-san!" Miyahara burst into the room, effectively sending Seiji's train of thought to a screeching halt with his unattractive and noisy puffing, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Seiji said, watching Miyahara plonk down plastic bags onto the bed. Aside from the toothpaste, shaving cream and extra underwear in them, Seiji found he was properly grateful for the juice and oranges Ayase had also instructed Miyahara to buy.

For the next hour, Seiji discussed the rumour mill with his friends, clarified what he and Miyahara knew was true or false for Ayase, and watched (or in Ayase's case, endured) Miyahara's excited slow-motion blow-by-blow account with the corrupt Ogurabashi student.

By the time empty cans and orange peel littered the table by the bed lamp, a tall Sakuradamon senpai Seiji did not know came by with a small package of fruit, introducing himself as Narushima. Though Seiji hardly knew guys like Narushima, this guy didn't seem so bad. Narushima was exceedingly polite and expressed real sympathy towards Seiji's injuries and Midori's current situation, and then addressed Ayase as 'Takako-san', asking if she'd allow him to walk her home. She blushed furiously as she hastily bid Seiji farewell, and left with Narushima.

Almost straight after she left, Kouta turned up.

"Iwasaki-san is with Midori-chan right now," Kouta said, "But she sends her regards."

"That's Midori's friend from yesterday, right?" Seiji could actually remember her from the days Midori had been on his hand, and they had caught a glimpse of her friends. He'd always had a best impression of her from the lot. "How is she?"

"She's quite bruised, but she said it was nothing worse than a bad scuffle in lacrosse. She's a tough girl," Kouta added, but then stopped and looked a little embarrassed. Seiji had no idea why, so he ignored it and asked the most pressing question for him.

"How's Midori doing? Is there any change in her condition?"

Kouta shook his head, looking downcast, and a long silence dragged on after his words.

"Hey, now," Miyahara said, waving his hand as though to clear out the air, "you didn't bring anything for Sawamura-san?"

"I just got discharged myself!" Kouta exclaimed.

He was pretty heavily bandaged up, but did not seem to have suffered any major injuries from the ordeal. Still, he seemed to be taking it rather well; Seiji was also surprised to see how well he got along with Miyahara. He might still be prettier than most girls, Seiji mused, but something was different about him now. (This was especially encouraging for Seiji, as he was still haunted occasionally by dreams of his near kiss with the boy.)

Both Kouta and Miyahara stayed until visiting hours were up, and after they left (a noisy affair as the nurse bodily dragged them out), Seiji leaned back into his pillows quietly.

They had all left so abruptly, Seiji had not been able to squeeze in even a brief word of thanks for their dropping by. But oddly, he felt perhaps he didn't really have to. Without saying so, it seemed he could expect them to come by again tomorrow.

He didn't know how to explain exactly why, but he felt more... whole. Seiji surprised even himself when he found he was motivated enough to actually look through the assignments Ayase had brought him, and work on them after dinner.

* * *

When Kiriyama's eyes opened, it took him a long while before he realised he was at the hospital again. He couldn't remember getting there, but he rarely did. He always wound up here after he felt like the world had wrung him through and through, emotionally, mentally and physically.

The whole plan that had backfired with Sawamura definitely qualified as one of those experiences. Tons of bribes, dirty secrets and illegal favours had gone into this plan. Now, however, he had nothing but several low-quality photographs and video clips on his phone that were less than incriminating. Sure, they were enough to cause a bit of a scandal, but... no, he didn't want to think about that right now.

Strangely enough, it wasn't the room he barely saw in the house he lived in that he craved in his exhaustion. He looked up wearily at the unmoving presence of his father, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest that was aided through all the tubes he was tangled in.

It took a moment for Kiriyama to realise his sister, Sachiko, was in the room as well. She was quietly reading a light novel at the small table, her long hair tucked up in a loose bun as she squinted through her glasses. It suddenly occurred to him that she was the same age as the Ogurabashi princess who he had tried to maim the day before. The girl he hated to the core of her being. The girl who had, for some reason beyond his understanding, saved him.

"What time is it?" He croaked, and she jumped a little. She looked at him tiredly, the way she'd been doing since the fight they had when she had screamed at him for not doing anything for dad, and he'd only stood there in stony silence for the whole hour.

"Around three," She replied, and he frowned.

"Don't you have a part-time job at the supermarket at this time?"

"Oh, they asked me to come tomorrow inste-" Her eyes unfocused slightly, and she blinked before looking at him again. "How'd you know that?"

"Of course I know your schedule," He said irritably, "You pasted it on the refrigerator at home."

"You- you actually looked at that?"

"I thought that's why you put it up there. So I know you're working at the convenience store in a few hours."

"Well- yes, but I thought you... didn't really..." She turned a little pink. "Never mind." She went back to perusing her book again for a few minutes. Just as Kiriyama started to drift off again on the sofa, she said suddenly, "Onii-chan, I- I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" He mumbled. She hesitated, and he opened one eye and glared at her with it. "Spit it out."

"...You were crying. In your sleep, just now, I mean."

He flinched; that was the last thing he'd expected her to say. For a second, his normal impulses urged him to scoff it off, get up, and walk right out the door and go somewhere else for the rest of the day.

But he was just too tired. He couldn't be bothered to pretend.

Instead he said flatly, "That's not a question."

Sachiko looked startled at his blunt admission of what she'd seen; it took some effort on her part to continue steadily, "You kept calling out to dad. And you said it was your fault, over and over again. What was that about?"

He felt his face grey as his sister pinned him with her eyes, and he swallowed with some difficulty.

"It's just a stupid recurring dream. It doesn't matter."

"No, onii-chan, I want to know- I mean-" Her voice faltered as she said in a rush, "Were you involved in the attack on dad at all?"

There was a painful moment that seemed to last ages, her pleading eyes and clasped hands suddenly overwhelming Kiriyama as though she were staring him down and closing those hands around his throat. When he found his voice, it took great effort to keep it steady.

"No. I wasn't."

She looked suspiciously at him, but he held her gaze. The amount of relief that shone in his sister's face in the fraction of a second that followed was too much for Kiriyama to handle; he continued in a savage rush of words,

"But I might as well have been."

The light faded slightly in her eyes as she whispered, "What do you mean?"

"I've orchestrated tons of group attacks, mobbing students, teachers, security guards, police officers, innocent office ladies or salarymen on the way home... I facilitated them with schedules and weapons, like chains, knives..." He paused before mumbling, "...baseball bats."

"Oh," She said, her face slack, and he couldn't look at her anymore; he dug his head into his his hands as he muttered rapidly,

"I didn't plan the attack on dad, but I keep dreaming that I did. I'm standing there watching him get his skull bashed in, over and over, blood and tears flying everywhere and he's begging me to go help him, but I can't, because suddenly I'm by the gate and I'm gripping a baseball bat dripping with his blood. And I'm always chanting that I didn't know, I didn't know, it wasn't supposed to be him, it's my fault, it's-"

His breath hitched, and he realised his tears were dripping off his chin, but he couldn't control his mouth anymore; like he had lost it in front of Seiji, he had finally lost it in front of Sachiko, and he couldn't stop talking as the deep well of pain in him unravelled.

"I don't know what to do. I just... I don't have a freaking clue what to do. You've been working yourself to death paying the bills, I need to help but I can't, I don't know how anymore, I- I can't-"

Suddenly, her hands were grasping his tightly, wrenching them from threatening to scalp himself. He gripped her hands tightly back, unable to look at her, but he could hear her crying. Before he knew what was happening she had launched herself at him, hugging him for the first time since mom's funeral.

A voice in his head screamed to push her off, to demand Kiriyama to pull himself together, to stop his little sister from weeping and seeing how ludicrously fragile he was.

But a bigger part of his being begged for this relief, and squeezing his eyes shut, he clung to his sister.

He didn't know when he'd fallen asleep, but when he woke up, Sachiko was gone, the sky outside was dark and there was a blanket draped over him. There was a note on the table that told him to stay put, because she was buying dinner and bringing it home after her part-time job.

Kiriyama told himself he needed to leave, get some space to properly hash out the damage assessment of his latest failure, how to best use what he taken from this, and to carefully regroup and plan the next course of action quickly and avoid any further damage.

For some reason, however, he stayed lying on the sofa until his sister came back with bentou, and ate dinner with her for the first time in years.

* * *

When the lights were all out, Seiji knew he was supposed fall asleep, but he just couldn't. Without his friends or schoolwork to distract him, he found himself entirely at the mercy of the painful fear for Midori.

He could imagine all too well lying still on the bed until morning came, just worrying. He'd done it the night Midori had disappeared from his hand, after all, though this somehow felt even worse. The nurses had put his possessions in a plastic ziplock in the top drawer, which probably meant the change that had been in his pocket was in there, too. Thinking he might buy a drink, he slipped the ziplock out of the drawer and took the crutch the nurses had provided him with.

Seiji eased himself as quietly as he could out of the room, and hobbled along the corridor. It was actually quite difficult to maneuver himself around, so he took a break the first chance he got when he found an empty bench to settle on. It was far too dark and quiet even out here, he realised, save for the quiet thrum of machines and the tapping of shoes as nurses swept from one room to the other in their routines.

He shut his eyes as he leaned against the wall, exhaling very slowly. Behind his lids, he saw her quietly studying across from him at the coffee table, her eyes gentle and focused on the page, unaware of how the sunlight filtering through her green hair from the window behind was making her incredibly distracting.

He could feel the warmth from the top of her head tucked under his chin, the solid yet fragile sense of her body in his arms, and recalled the sweet scent of her.

He heard her call his name, sweetly, happily, beseechingly, over and over, managing every time to call her to him in a way no one else could.

Had he lost her?

He blinked rapidly, trying not to think about how maybe their first kiss had been their last, and thought he should probably go get that drink now. As he fished around the ziplock bag for change, he felt something soft that wasn't money or his keys. Confused, he pulled it out, and squinted at the dark fabric in the sparse light.

It took him a while to realise what it was, and when he did, a sharp jolt ran through him. It was the uniform tie of Ogurabashi, the one Midori had pressed against his ear the day he had taken her home on his back. It was still soaked stiff with his blood, because he had forgotten completely about washing it and returning it to her. She had always been like that, caring for him so deeply, but now she was paying the price for it.

Unbidden, his eyes and nose stung, and Seiji tried hard not to lose control of himself on the bench. He scrunched up his eyes and balled the tie into his fist, hunching over as he willed himself not to tremble. He would do anything to make sure she was alright, he knew that. But would he ever get the chance to prove it? He felt utterly at loss of what he could do now. If Midori never woke up...

No, he couldn't take that. Not again.

'Midori...' He pleaded silently, 'Please don't leave my side again.'

A shockingly familiar wave of tingles rippled through his right arm, and he shuddered; he couldn't believe he was recalling that of all things now... imagining such possibilities was just...

"I won't, Seiji-kun."

He wasn't imagining that voice.

His eyes shot open. Peeking out over the right sleeve of his hospital pajamas was a small mop of green hair, bright blue eyes, tiny hands clasped tightly before a small white dress - the one she'd been wearing the night she disappeared -

She smiled up at him, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe.

Midori was on his right hand again.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author Notes: Reformatting goes on.

My dear readers, thank you for taking the time to continually urge me to update through the year hiatus this fanfic took. I've had the whole of the fanfic planned out from the start, but it's been difficult getting it down properly. I really tried not to make it too melodramatic.

This fanfic has taken some serious (unintended) detours from one plot point to another, which was fun but many were spontaneous things the characters did as I wrote them. But the final scene of this chapter has been in my head from the conception of this story, so it was extremely gratifying to be able to finally write it out.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Revelations

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Chapter Eighteen: Revelations**

* * *

Although the light was dim, there was no mistaking the fact Midori was looking at him with a rapidly fading smile and brimming eyes. And it would have taken more than just a convincing hallucination to feel her suddenly launch her tiny self at his face, her high-pitched squeal filling his ears as she clutched at his cheeks.

"Whoa!" Seiji tried to get his bearings back as he struggled to grasp the miniature Midori, who was unabashedly nuzzling him. "M-Midori- what- is going- on?"

Now, with her face squished between Seiji's left thumb and forefinger, and her little hands kept away from his face at arm's length, she pouted at him.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

He stared at her for a moment, his mind still reeling, and realised the honest answer was that he didn't know. Out loud, however, he muttered, "Just give me a second, alright? You just gave me a heart attack, you idiot!"

And his heart *was* pounding in his ears. She hugged his left thumb, smiling sweetly as she gazed at him with adoration, and there was an onslaught of old memories he had forcibly packed away. All the little misadventures they had together clamoured to be heard among the torrent of emotions welling up, and all of a sudden he could recall cradling her in the crook of his arm, telling Shingyouji he never wanted to let her go...

He looked at her again, and with the shock ebbing away slowly, he took in her little face once more and felt an undeniable glow within him.

She's here, he realised. She's with me once more. She's okay... though it was now very weird seeing her so small once again.

Her effervescence was now rapidly sobering up, and she raked her gaze across him before biting her lip.

"Why are you hurt all over, Seiji-kun?"

It didn't occur to Seiji fast enough why she was asking. Instead, he jerked his head side to side, pressing his fingertips against her shoulders as he urged, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. If you're back on my hand, then doesn't that mean that- I don't know- the last time you were on my hand, you said it was because you lacked courage, but you could go back by choice, right? Are you in this coma by choice? Could you go back?"

She looked startled at his stream of words, and frowned up at him.

"Wha- what do you mean, Seiji-kun? Am I in a coma again?"

His mouth fell open as he stared at her for a moment.

"Wha- well, yeah! That's what happens when you're on my hand, remember? And geez, that's kind of what's getting us all in a frenzy at the moment!"

"What? But..." Her face fell slack as her brows unknotted. "I..."

"Midori," Seiji said slowly, keeping his eyes on her closely, "do you remember what happened?"

"We..." Midori looked at him a little confusedly. "We're... dating, aren't we?"

"Of course," He said quietly. Something cold crept up his spine as he cupped her in his hand. "What's the last thing you remember?" Seiji asked, and Midori frowned slightly.

"Well... my mother said..."

"Your mother?" Seiji didn't think this was relevant to the situation at all. "Look, Midori. You're in a coma right now. You need to wake up! What are you doing on my hand?"

"But... but my mother..." Midori's eyes clouded as her words trailed off.

Slowly, an inkling of the reason why Midori was on his hand began to dawn on Seiji, though he hadn't fully grasped it yet. The fact that Midori had been bright, talkative and cheerful on his hand before when she normally wasn't came to mind. And that had happened because she hadn't been able to tell him how she felt about him. Which probably meant...

"Midori, is there something you haven't told me yet?"

"Well... my mother doesn't approve of you, Seiji-kun." Midori bit her lip as she glanced down, clearly unwilling to look at Seiji's expression of surprise and hurt. "I know she's just worried about me, but she's been so suffocating regarding you. She even took my phone! She's never done that before!"

"That's why you wouldn't pick up my calls?" Seiji asked, realisation dawning, but Midori hardly paid him attention. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to seethe,

"I never would have had to sneak over to your school, Seiji-kun, if my mother didn't act so over-protective. We could have avoided this whole mess if only I wasn't so scared of offending my mother somehow."

"But how-?" Seiji began, but Midori interrupted with a loud groan of frustration.

"I know that I shouldn't have lied about the things I did, but how else could I act when she gets so concerned about the tiniest little things?"

"What did you lie about-?"

"She knows I love you and I've told her so many times that you'll take care of me, but she doesn't trust you. She doesn't trust me! She-"

"Midori, listen for just a sec!"

This Midori was bold, angry and very articulate in her expression of it. It appeared that the phenomenon of Midori appearing on his hand had slightly different manifestations. There were more pressing matters to inquire about, however.

"You... don't remember the last thing that happened to you, do you?"

"Let me think... oh, yes." Midori now crossed her arms, her expression of anguish and fury. "I was knocked out after you saved me from Kiriyama-san, right?"

It was amazing that she was still willing to address him politely after all that had happened, Seiji thought, as Midori continued to recall.

"I think I was badly hurt," Midori said, now straining a little to remember. "And... oh, yes. Now I know what I'm doing on your hand, Seiji-kun." She looked at him straight in the eyes. "It's my mother. She'll do all she can to prevent me from dating you."

"But Midori," Seiji tried to speak, but Midori cut in,

"It's better this way, Seiji-kun. I don't think it's your fault at all, but I know my mother will think differently. She'll think it's all your fault that I got hurt, and she won't let us be together. It'll be a nightmare if I wake up after this! She's so stubborn and narrow-minded, she won't see that it wasn't your fault, but all the fault of that stupid Kiriyama-san!"

Actually, it was amazing how rude this Midori was; Seiji was seized by a wild temptation to laugh for a split second, but managed to push it back down and say instead: "That's not a good reason to worry your mother to death, Midori. You know it."

"What?" Midori's eyes flashed at Seiji, looking fatally wounded. Then she dropped her gaze. "You don't... you don't want to be with me, Seiji-kun?"

"Of course I want to be with you!" Seiji said exasperatedly, squishing her head between his fingers so she would stop pouting with her head down, "That's not the point. Your mother has every right to be angry with me, Midori. I put you in real danger. I have to pay that price."

"No, you shouldn't!" Midori lunged at him and gripped at his collar, looking up at him desperately with her soft blue eyes swimming. "If I wake up, we may not be able to spend time together. Not like this."

As Seiji gazed at her small form clutching at his clothes, he remembered with painstaking clarity all their times together. Always being together, always... always.

Gently, he cupped his hand around Midori, and lay a fingertip on the top of her soft little head. She let out a tiny hiccup of surprise at his warmth, and as he spoke quietly his breath caused the top of her hairs to flutter.

"I want to spend the rest our lives together like this, Midori." He closed his eyes, pressing her form to him, her head nestled against his throat. He could actually feel her heart beating against his own pulse, and it was so welcome and warm, he couldn't speak for a moment.

"Seiji-kun," She murmured, and he knew from the tone of her voice that she had understood the rest of what he needed to say. He forced himself to say it anyway.

"I really want to, Midori. You have no idea. It's like I'm literally missing a part of my body when you're not around, you know, and it hurts. Because that's what you were - a part of me."

He could feel her give a little sniffle against him, and he let out a soft sigh.

"I want this, Midori, I really do. But... I can't have you all to myself." He gave a rueful chuckle. "If there's one thing I learnt from dating you, it's realising how selfish I've been. Tucking you away into my pocket where no one else can appreciate who you are, and how lucky I am in having you."

He finally lifted his chin and gently pried her away from his chest, and she looked up at him, tears dripping down her face as her mouth quivered.

"Besides, there's more we could have than even this, if we can get over all the other stuff. Even if it is a nightmare, we have to try to get past it, right?"

"Seiji-kun..." Letting out a soft sigh, Midori closed her eyes, and Seiji knew she was preparing to fade away once more. An ache, both hot and cold, pierced him at the memory, but somehow he could bear it. At least, he thought, with a sense of almost crushing relief, she would wake once more. Midori's mother may hate him, but... she would have her daughter back.

But just as the thought passed his mind, Midori suddenly grew rigid, her own body straightening stiff like a poker as her eyes widened.

"I..." Midori's tear-streaked face suddenly fell blank, an emptiness stealing the life out of her eyes. Seiji had no idea what was going on, but he still couldn't feel his fingers where Midori was and he knew something was terribly wrong. He instinctively grabbed and shook her, yelling angrily to disguise his great fright,

"Hey, get a grip on yourself!"

It actually worked; the doll-like stillness shattered as Midori gave a violent shake of her head and looked up at Seiji, her face pale.

"I... I don't know what's going on." Her voice was trembling as she gripped at Seiji's hand with her miniature fingers. "I feel like... something's not right. If I go back now, I won't..."

Seiji stared at Midori.

"You won't what?" He prompted, trying not to sound as edgy as he felt, "You won't... wake up?"

"I... I don't know," Midori whispered, one hand clutching at her green hair, "I just have a bad feeling about it. I feel like it's a different way back. I don't know if I'll know the way."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know!" Midori burst out, her high-pitched squeal echoing through the quiet hospital halls, and they both remembered where they were and tried to keep their voices down.

"What was it like last time when you returned to your body?"

"I don't... really remember. I just... I just knew how to do it. But this time, I feel like... well, I'll leave your side, Seiji-kun... but I don't know where I'll end up." She looked at him fearfully. "What should I..."

Seiji looked at her. He had no idea what to say, but he was - fortunately or unfortunately - saved from the trouble when she blanked out again, her face listless.

"Midori!" Seiji shook her again, but she did not respond. In his desperation, Seiji did the one thing he had never been able to do when she had been on his hand last; he held her tightly against him and pressed his lips against the top of her head and whispered, "I've got you."

"Seiji-kun..." Midori's voice was frail and so faint he could barely hear her.

When Seiji finally lifted his head up and looked down at his hands, she was gone.

* * *

Snowflakes gently drifted aimlessly outside, occasionally dusting the glass of the window pane. The opaline whiteness of the sky shot through the gaps in the blinds onto Seiji's bed.

It brilliantly illuminated Seiji's very _empty_ bed. The nurse on duty put her head in her hands and let out a silent scream of frustration.

Meanwhile, Seiji was slowly making his way towards the vending machines on his crutch, his eyes tired and bloodshot.

He had given up the Midori on his hand for the real Midori, but at the cost of not knowing whether she would ever return again. As much as he had hoped against hope, there had been no change in Midori's condition throughout the night; she was still asleep.

No matter what, he desperately wanted to believe that this had been the right choice. Still, it hurt to know he had given up something so precious; a constant companion at his side and a friend he could shield from the world with just a pocket, without any complications. At least, if he had been a slightly more selfish bastard, he probably would have felt no guilt at all in keeping her at his side.

But she had changed him, and now he knew the world deserved to have her.

He had shifted restlessly under the thin covers of the hospital bed the whole night, biting his lower lip to keep himself from muttering out loud feverishly. Seconds felt like hours when you were waiting for something you hadn't a clue about.

It had been too painful to stay still while his emotions were stretched taut; even though he wasn't all that thirsty or hungry, he hobbled along the long path of the corridor to the vending machines.

A young girl was getting chocolate from one of the machines; Seiji leaned against a pillar and waited, absent-mindedly staring at a crack in the plaster. It therefore came as a bit of a shock when the girl suddenly rushed in front of him and exclaimed, "Seiji-nii!"

Startled, it took Seiji a couple of moments to recognise the tired-looking face behind the thick glasses and messy hair tucked in a loose bun. It had been years, but the number of times he'd kicked back at Kiriyama's house after school and watched her cut fruit for them and laugh at their antics - she'd looked a lot younger then, somehow.

"Sachiko! Wow, it's been a while. What are you doing here?"

"Well, my father was admitted here..." She hesitated, and then changed tack. "What are you doing in hospital?" She looked wide-eyed at his heavily bandaged state. "Should you be walking around? You look really hurt!"

"I'm fine. I was just roughed up a bit, that's all."

"Just roughed up a bit? That's what onii-chan used to always say after school, before we moved to Osaka! You guys..."

Suddenly, the air grew tense. Sachiko dropped her gaze down to her shoes, her grip on her chocolate growing slack, and Seiji found himself asking gently: "What's going on with him these days?"

"He- well, he changed quite a bit, Seiji-nii. Ever since Dad..." Her eyes rapidly filled with tears; she didn't look away from her shoes.

It looked like Seiji could have the chance to finally figure out what was going on in Kiriyama's head.

"Hey." Seiji nudged at Sachiko's arm, gesturing to the elevators nearby. "Do you want to go to the cafe downstairs and talk?"

"...I'm sorry, I don't mean to impose." Sachiko mumbled, but Seiji shook his head. Even on his crutches, he managed to support the weight of Sachiko leaning on his arm as they walked towards the elevators.

* * *

Kouta was not surprised to see that Midori's mother, Haruka, had fallen asleep by her daughter's bedside again. Her hand clutched Midori's motionless fingers.

He thought he'd be used to seeing Midori in a coma, but she looked quite different this time round. There were bandages wrapped tightly around her head, an oxygen mask obscuring most of her face, and there was an IV drip connected to her arm. Her face was also much paler, causing the shadows under her eyes to look darker and deeper than last time.

Gently, he set down the fruit he had brought for Haruka, but the crinkle of plastic stirred her from her sleep.

"Ah... Kouta-chan. Is it already after school for you?"

"Yes, obaa-san. I'm sorry I woke you up. My mother thought you'd like some of the apples we got from my grandmother the other day, I was just putting them here."

"Oh! You must thank your mother for me, I've been so awful at keeping in contact with her, she's so sweet..." She sounded quite distracted as she rambled, rubbing at her eyes exhaustedly. "It's no trouble you've woken me... Actually it's a good thing... It's terrible, the times I've been falling asleep. I should really try and sleep outside of visiting hours, it's just that I've hardly been sleeping lately." Her eyes filled with tears suddenly, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kouta-chan."

"Please don't be sorry," He said hastily, but Midori's mother shook her head again, sharply.

"I wish I knew what had happened exactly." She stroked Midori's hair back from her pale face, gazing at her helplessly. "I wish you would tell me, Kouta-chan."

"I- I really am telling the truth, obaa-san. I don't really know what happened," Kouta said hesitantly, "I only know what Sawamura-san told me. And... it really wasn't anyone's fault."

Haruka's eyes narrowed. "I see."

"Uhm... if you'd like to talk to him, his room number is-"

"I know where it is," She interrupted, her voice so harsh Kouta barely avoided meeping out loud, "I'm not ready to talk to him."

She stood up unsteadily, and gave Midori a sad, fleeting look. "I'll be right back. Take your time, Kouta-chan."

As she was leaving the room, however, she stumbled, and Kouta immediately went to her side. He supported her to the stairwell, and once there, she waved him away. She looked faint; Kouta knew she'd barely been eating, on top of not sleeping properly.

"I just need some air," She murmured distractedly, and wouldn't let Kouta help her up the stairs. "No, no, I'm fine. Sorry to make you worry, Kouta-chan. Go back and keep Midori company..."

Kouta watched her slowly make her way up the stairs, as doctors, nurses, patients and other visitors milled about them, and then with a sigh he made his way back to Midori's room.

When he arrived, he was surprised to see the door slightly ajar. He peeked in, and saw the back of Iwasaki's head; she was sitting by Midori's side. He slipped inside and was about to greet her, when he was taken aback by the breathless sob Iwasaki let out.

"I'm so sorry we didn't make it in time to save you." Unaware of Kouta, tears fell from Iwasaki's chin as she touched Midori's hand with both of her own, her voice heavy with guilt. "Midori-chan, it's really my fault. I was supposed to get the key to the storage room faster, but I was so stupid, I was so happy I got the key from the pipes when I did, relief made me all weak. I couldn't run fast enough. Damn it."

She wiped savagely under her eyes and sniffled. "Kouta was amazing, you know. He really did his best when those bastards were attacking him. You have a great friend." Her eyes were dark as she whispered, "I'm so, so sorry, Midori-chan. If I'd gotten that key and run up faster..." Iwasaki bit her lip, more tears dripping from her cheeks. "Please wake up. You have to wake up and tell me I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot!" Kouta surprised even himself with the outburst; he couldn't help it, though. Seeing the normally strong Iwasaki cry like this was unnerving.

Iwasaki was so startled she jerked upright, completely speechless as he strode towards her. He shot out his arm and grabbed Iwasaki's limp hand.

"I know how desperately you struggled to get that key - look at how badly you hurt your hands!" He spread her bandaged fingers out as he spoke, in indication. "Not many people could have done it. It's because you care for Midori-chan that you managed, and if you hadn't, we would have had no way to get Midori-chan out of the storage room when the ambulance came. Don't say you're an idiot!"

Iwasaki looked at him with wide eyes, and he willed himself to look straight into her piercing gaze with all the forcefulness he could muster. The usual brightness returned to her eyes, and then - she looked down at their hands. She jerked her hand out of his grasp, muttering, "You shouldn't hold a girl's hand so easily, you moron!"

"I-I'm sorry!" He yelped, but she was blushing hard, and her words had no bite to it. He had no idea what to think.

Really, what was wrong with him? He couldn't believe he'd had the audacity to grab her hand - but it had come so instinctively to him, he hadn't stopped to think. She had really caught him off guard with the tears, too - he'd felt an urgency to reassure her in a way he'd never felt before with anyone. Usually, people were reassuring *him*. And what was with her blushing? He'd never thought she'd blush because someone like him was touching her hand. She was strong and kicked ass - he'd seen it himself - so why was it she seemed so feminine and vulnerable this moment? She'd gotten mad at him for holding her hand, but it seemed like she wasn't really mad. He didn't understand it. He didn't understand girls at all.

"Uhm, Kouta..." Iwasaki mumbled, and he wondered why he was suddenly terrified of meeting her gaze. "About what you-"

"Beniko-chan!" Both Iwasaki and Kouta snapped up to see Haruka at the door, smiling tiredly. "You came to see Midori, too."

"Yes, obaa-san. Are you doing alright?" As Iwasaki talked with Midori's mother, Kouta told his wildly palpitating heart to shut up; he felt mortified at the fact he'd temporarily forgotten he was in a room with a comatose Midori. Of all the places to have a moment.

Wait a minute. A moment?

"Won't you two stay and let me treat you both for dinner?" Haruka was saying, but Iwasaki shook her head.

"Thank you very much, but I just wanted to stop by and see Midori-chan for a bit."

"I- I also need to go for karate training. Thank you for the offer though, obaa-san."

"Oh, that's right. I'd heard you'd joined a dojo. How is it?"

"He's doing great," Iwasaki answered for him, "Kouta joined my father's dojo."

"Oh, I see," She said, smiling at Kouta, and he didn't know why he felt so terrifically embarrassed.

As Iwasaki and Kouta left the hospital together, she asked him, "Shouldn't you be taking it easy, with all your injuries? I'm taking a break myself from lacrosse for a couple of weeks."

"I'm just going to practice a little bit," Kouta admitted, "I won't be able to stay for long."

"That's a pity. Dad was really looking forward to your exam, you know."

"I was as well. But I might still be able to take it."

"What? But you're injured!"

"Your dad said they could defer my exam until next week. If I miss this one, the next available time will be in three months. I really want to do it now if I can."

She smiled at him, and he felt his chest constrict oddly at the way she did. "I see." She looked away, though the smile was still on her lips. "You'll manage fine."

They were headed for the train station together, and Kouta had never felt more uncomfortable at the prospect of spending time alone with Iwasaki before. She'd always made him feel a little uncomfortable, but something felt different this time. He'd never felt so... aware of her, or himself, if that was the right word.

The weather was frosty and the winds were freezing, but there was an indescribable heat in his chest that intensified every time he glanced at her and saw her brace herself against the cold in her thick, woollen scarf, pink-cheeked in the cold and bright-eyed as always. Her hands looked cold without gloves; she stuck them in her pockets and did not take them out.

As they waited for the train, he said suddenly, "Iwasaki-san, please wait here."

Without waiting for her answer, he ran off to a vending machine. She looked very surprised when he came back and held up a heated can of milk coffee.

"Your hands looked cold, so I thought... you could hold this."

"Uhm..." Was she turning pinker because it was cold, or was she blushing again? "Thank you, Kouta."

She took the can from him, their fingers brushing slightly (and as he had suspected, her fingers felt like ice) and it occurred to Kouta that he wasn't irritated at all by the way she called his name now.

During the train ride, their conversation trailed on and off as they discussed random things about upcoming school events and their current school assignments. The atmosphere felt strange; Kouta had no idea why he found it so hard to look her in the eye for long. Even when the train ride was long over and Kouta was sitting in the dojo, watching other disciples spar with each other for practice, he was still puzzling over why he was feeling so weird.

It was only at home, much later at night as he was doing his homework, that the thought occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, he ought to re-evaluate how he felt about Iwasaki herself.

No way. She's scary! Kouta thought, his cheeks burning at the very idea. She thinks nothing of me and addresses me rudely and is taller than me and is really very pretty, and wouldn't...

He suddenly remembered her saying quietly to Midori in the hospital room several hours ago: 'Kouta was amazing, you know.'

And that smile she'd given him, when he said he was probably going to take the exam for his first belt anyway. She had still been smiling when she said, 'You'll probably manage.' Her voice had been soft, but sincere.

She'd looked beautiful saying it, too.

His heart was thundering in his chest.

"Oh my gawd." Kouta's pencil dropped from his limp fingers and rolled onto the desk as he pressed his hands onto his flaming cheeks. His voice came out unnaturally high, even for him, as he squeaked, "I'm starting to like Iwasaki-san."

* * *

The afternoon light was warm and yellow on the walls. Seiji had cracked open a textbook and was doing some reading for Japanese when he noticed someone standing by the doorway of his room. At least, he could feel the presence of someone; whoever it was remained out of sight just outside, by the door.

Was some poor nurse too scared to check up on him or something? Just as the thought crossed his mind, the person haltingly stepped into view, and Seiji felt his mouth go dry.

Kiriyama.

He was looking down at his shoes, clearly steering himself with an enormous amount of effort.

Even under less strenuous circumstances, Seiji would have found it hard to keep his anger in check. In a single bound, the covers were tossed to the floor; Seiji hardly registered the sharp sting his arms and legs gave as he wrenched them out of bed, or the icy floor against his bare feet. With both hands, he gripped the front of Kiriyama's shirt and yanked him up, growling through his teeth.

He wanted to punch him. He wanted to obliviate the bastard. But even through the red, above all that, was the oddest, frustrating sense of control he had over the urge, something he had never struggled to keep hold of before. And somehow, through the blur of anger, Seiji knew hurting Kiriyama would do nothing to help Midori, and besides, what Sachiko had said...

With no where else for the helpless frustration to go, Seiji felt a violent torrent of words rush up his throat and spill out scaldingly.

"You retarded little bastard." Kiriyama flinched, but Seiji barrelled on. "Your bout of insanity has cost more than you could have ever imagined. There's a chance you've taken the life of a girl who is a hell lot more valuable than either of us are."

Seiji gripped Kiriyama's shirt so tightly, his knuckles cracked; he gritted out through his teeth, "Are you happy? Is this what you wanted?"

Just then, Seiji saw the same, desperate, wounded flash in Kiriyama's eyes he'd seen back in the dusty room several days ago.

"I-" Kiriyama began, his voice breaking, and Seiji felt his fury ebb away. The violence Seiji had wanted to unleash drained out, leaving a cool, hollow sense of exhaustion and pity. His broken leg was starting to feel funny, too, since he was standing for so long without a crutch. After a stretch of silence, Seiji let go of Kiriyama, and sat down on his bed.

"...What is it?"

Kiriyama looked at Seiji with unmasked surprise; Seiji realised that Kiriyama had been incredibly tense, expecting physical abuse of some sort. Closing his eyes, Seiji let out a long and loud sigh, letting out as much of his frustration as he could in his exhalement. Then he looked at Kiriyama dead on.

"You're here because you have something to say, right?"

Kiriyama managed to meet Seiji's gaze for a few seconds before he dropped it, his eyes laden with shame.

"I... I've been thinking a lot, Seiji. Over the past few days. And I..." Kiriyama's fists clenched so tightly they shook, his knuckles growing bone-white. "I... wasn't thinking that clearly. It was a bad idea to try and control you. And... I... I know this is meaningless, but I really didn't mean for Princess to get hurt. Not like that."

Seiji bit back a retort, that the damage dealt might have been better than the original plan's intentions, and kept his gaze on Kiriyama steady. For a moment, a wild sense of fight or flight flashed in Kiriyama's eyes, but when Seiji did not look away, Kiriyama remained rooted to the spot. The panic drained from his eyes, and he took a deep breath before he spoke.

"I... don't really want to live like this." He swallowed painfully.

At his confession, Seiji felt something toxic melt away from the air; Kiriyama's eyes were pleading and bloodshot.

It suddenly felt like they were back in middle school again. They were two friends who really needed to talk.

"I really never meant for things to turn out like this," Kiriyama went on, "And I don't just mean what went on with you... just... everything I've been doing." He gave a hollow laugh, struggling to keep his voice steady. "They call me 'Spider' in the underground circles, did you know that? 'Cause I've got tabs on everyone. People of all sorts come to me to get connections to other gang leaders and exclusive night clubs... all that sort of crap."

"You were always good at that sort of thing," Seiji said, and Kiriyama gave a half-smile.

"Yeah... I guess I always was. But I... I don't know. At one point things started getting dangerous." Kiriyama ran a hand over his hair, hiding his eyes from Seiji's view. "I started learning secrets that I shouldn't have found out about. And then, just by knowing those things, I had so much power. A dark kind of power. I suddenly had connections to weapon dealers and drug dealers, and... I just... I guess I just started enjoying having that sort of power."

"And how's that been going for you?" Seiji asked sternly, knowing the answer and knowing he was being cruel, but Seiji figured he was doing pretty well keeping his temper in check. It was all he could do to not smack Kiriyama upside the head so far.

"To be honest... I thought it was all good until my dad got attacked." Seiji had heard about it from Sachiko, and now he could see that Kiriyama was equally pained, if not more, by the news. "He's... in this hospital right now. In a coma. Like Princess. By the sorts of people I've been cooperating with until now." Kiriyama's hands scrunched his hair, threatening to scalp himself as he mumbled, "I didn't think about the kinds of people I was dealing with at the time... I didn't really know until I suddenly wanted to get away from it all."

"You idiot!" Seiji couldn't help blurting out in fury, "Didn't we always say we'd keep away from that crowd?"

"I know!" Kiriyama burst out frustratedly, "I know I'm retarded, I just... I've made so many sacrifices, done so many things! What can I do? I've woven something bigger than myself. It's going to kill me if I try to fight it! No matter what path I choose, I lose something. It's a lose-lose situation!"

"Satoshi..."

For a long moment, Seiji just looked at Kiriyama, who was clutching his head in his hands and shaking. How long had he been tormenting himself like this?

"You don't have an answer for me either, do you?" Kiriyama let out a dry, mirthless laugh. "I don't know what I was expecting..."

"Why do you think like that?"

"What?" Kiriyama glanced up to see Seiji looking at him exasperatedly.

"I don't have an answer because your question to begin with sucks. Why do you assume that no matter what you do, you'll lose something?"

"But..." Kiriyama laughed again, this time more in disbelief. "You don't get it, do you? Say I decide to step out of the drug dealing circle, I'll effectively cut from my connections all the gangs who get their goods through me. I'll lose other people's respect, and I won't be able to keep things as they are-"

"But what does that even matter if you don't want it to begin with? Why are you focusing on what you will lose instead of what you'll gain?"

To Seiji it was so plain and simple; he wasn't sure why Kiriyama was staring at him as though the dawn were breaking behind him, revealing something utterly new that had never occurred to him before.

"You always wanted to 'rule' the world you were in, but it's just not worth it, is it? That's what I realised. It's part of why I just didn't care anymore, and why I stepped out of it all. Just cut ties and get out of that mess, Satoshi. You're a whole lot smarter than me; you can come up with a way to do it without getting killed. You'll make it."

"It- it can't be that easy."

"Maybe it is, though. Anyway, if it doesn't work, you can hide at my place 'till you figure something out. That way no one'll go near you, since Mad Dog will beat the crap out of them with his Devil's right hand if they get even try." Seiji laughed, and Kiriyama didn't seem able to talk for a moment. His eyes were suddenly wet, and Seiji looked away and pretended to be very interested in the view outside the window.

When he had collected himself, Kiriyama fished something out of his pocket and tossed something on Seiji's bed. Seiji picked it up, and when he turned it over in his hands, he realised it was a cellphone.

"Unless you want to make yourself sick, don't look at the photos or videos in there." Kiriyama said, unable to meet Seiji's inquiring eyes. "They're full of pictures I took while I was manhandling your girlfriend."

"WHAT?"

"That was what I had her there for in the first place, remember? It... went nothing beyond a kiss. Anyway... you have my word that I've copied none of the material onto anything else. You can destroy that thing, and it'll be gone out of existence."

In a temporary moment of insanity, Seiji wanted to crush both the cellphone and Kiriyama to nothingness on the spot, but with a huge amount of effort he managed to reel it back in. Killing Kiriyama would do nothing but put Seiji in jail, and the cellphone... it was the only thing that would prove it really only had been a kiss. There was a niggling voice in the very back of Seiji's brain that said things he didn't want to hear just yet. He put it aside for now, because Kiriyama was clearly steeling himself to say something more.

"Seiji... I... I want to help you. I mean- crap. That sounds freaking ridiculous. I know I can't do anything to make it all better, and nothing I can do will atone for what's been done, but- I... I could try and do something. So that no one attacks you anymore."

At this, Seiji's head whipped around, his heart jumping slightly. He'd never even considered the possibility of becoming free from his old enemies, of becoming someone safe for Midori to be with. "Can you do that?"

"Y-yeah," Kiriyama said, startled by how excited Seiji seemed at the prospect, "I mean... People are already talking all sorts of nonsense about you after this fiasco at Ogurabashi. You beat fifty students to a pulp all on your own, according to the rumours. It's actually not so far from the truth, so if we play on that a bit and inflate your status even further, no one's going to want to touch you."

"Won't that just make people want to challenge me more?"

"Not if we really kick your reputation up by several notches." Kiriyama hesitated. "Uh, I don't know what you'll think of this, but... I could implicate an exclusive connection between us. That way, no one will engage you directly, they'll always come to me first. I could divert them."

An idea suddenly hit Seiji, and he looked at Kiriyama slyly. "Actually... your reputation as 'Spider' might be more useful than you think. You thought up this whole plan with Midori because you wanted to get a set of 'reins' on me, right?"

"Er... yes." Kiriyama looked uncertain as Seiji rubbed at his temples, thinking hard.

"What if you made it look like it worked?"

"What if...?" It took Kiriyama a good moment to process exactly what Seiji meant. "Wait a minute... you mean, if it only worked as an exclusive agreement between you and me, without involving anyone else?" Seiji could practically see the cogs turning rapidly in Kiriyama's brain. "If we did that on top of elevating your reputation..."

"No one would question you, right?"

"That... might work," Kiriyama said, sounding somewhat surprised, "But Seiji... are you sure?"

"Well, it's not like you've really got any 'reins' on me," Seiji said, arching a brow, and it seemed Kiriyama couldn't help but laugh at that. "So you can make it work, right?"

"You'd have to come with me to a few meetings with other randoms to make it look legit."

"Do I have to beat anyone up?"

Kiriyama thought for a moment. "Only if they're stupid."

"Hmm. For how long?"

"I don't know... at least a month or so, to have a solid base for the rumour mill, and then... maybe a couple times after that, randomly..."

"Then we can both retire safely?"

Kiriyama blinked. "Yeah. I think we actually could."

"Then you could work on helping your family out with the financial problems, right?"

"Yeah... what? How'd you know about that?"

"I talked to Sachiko-chan."

Kiriyama bit his lip. Then, to Seiji's surprise, he suddenly dropped to his knees and his forehead hit the floor, his voice cracking as he exclaimed, "Seiji! I am so sorry for everything. But if you'll let me do this plan, I'll be eternally grateful to you!"

"Get up, Satoshi!" Seiji hissed, embarrassed as nurses walking by glanced in, "You don't need to go so far- I mean, I'm still mad at you for everything. But if you can make it so that no one will try to attack me, we'll call it even - at least, just between us."

Kiriyama did not budge from the ground, and as his shoulders shook, Seiji sighed and let Kiriyama stay there. "Th-thank you," Kiriyama choked out, and Seiji looked out the window again.

"You're welcome."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: I'm so sorry for how long I took to update this fanfic. Thank you, readers, for reminding me to keep working at it. I worked on the last few chapters intermittently over the year. This took several rewrites before I was satisfied with the results; I hope it's okay for the readers, too. :) I've written the last two chapters, but I'll be editing them a little further before posting them. Stay tuned!


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Together

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd get dibs on Seiji.)_

**Chapter Nineteen: Together**

* * *

Midori was floating. That was the first thing she drowsily realised as she came to. Slowly, her surroundings grew clearer to her as she was roused from her unconsciousness.

Kaleidoscopes of moving colour pulsed around her, changing every second and intermingling with resonating echoes of voices and laughter.

And before her stood somebody.

Was that... her? No... It looked like her, but it wasn't her.

Something about this doppelganger was so much brighter, so bright she was almost ethereal... and the way she held herself, straight backed, bright-eyed, hands on hips - she was so much more confident.

"I am you, but I am also not you. You're right." The doppelganger sighed. "I'm... not real."

Midori looked where her doppelganger had rested her eyes, and could see a distance away, in this strange, hazy world, a simple square of light.

"What is that?" Midori's voice had an odd quality to it; every word reverberated.

"It's... a door. It's the door that opened when you couldn't bear being yourself any longer. Some time ago, when you made that wish to be someone else, to be someone who could be close to Seiji-kun no matter what the cost... you were given a key."

"A key...?" Midori looked down at her hands, and realised there was a shining, silvery object in her hand, almost too bright to look at. "This is the key to the door?"

"Yes... and I am that wish you made."

They looked at each other for a moment, Midori's mouth slightly open. And her wish smiled at her.

"We have a give and take. To grant your wish, you gave up your body. And to give your body back, your memories were taken. And now... you have a choice."

Midori stared as her wish gestured to the vague images all around them.

"This is the final choice you will ever make with me. Once you make up your mind, there is no turning back.

"You can return to Seiji-kun's side again... but there will be no return ticket. However, you will be the person you've always wanted to be. And no one will ever be able to bother you two.

"Or... you can gain back your body, but you will never be able to be Seiji's right hand again. And in making this choice, you accept we have no guarantees for you. You could be taken away from Seiji-kun again, given the circumstances. Or... things might work out.

"What will you do?"

Midori's mouth felt dry. "I..."

The whirlpools of colour around her suddenly unfurled and enveloped her vision, projecting memories in vivid colour. Like reels of film, they rapidly unravelled before her eyes, revealing in piercing clarity every memory that had been tucked away into the recesses of her mind... the memories of being Seiji's right hand.

Being boisterous and silly had come so naturally to her, to the point Seiji had yelled at her countless times for being too rowdy. Even so, it had been so fun, those times, where she didn't have to think so hard about being herself. And being constantly by his side...

Midori recalled the way little flecks stung her face whenever she poured vegetable oil into Seiji's frying pan. The warm, gentle aroma of roasting sweet potatoes that wafted through Seiji's pocket while she was snug in there from icy drafts tickled her nose again. Once more, the sweet way Seiji's breathing could rumble in his throat in a low growl when he slept on his side came back to her, especially clear when she lay her little ear against his adam's apple.

She had been a part of Seiji. They had experienced life together in a way that was normally impossible. Cooking together. Eating together. Watching television, basking in the steam of a hot bath, gazing at the sky... they had done all of it together.

Always by his side... never to be pulled away from him again...

"I..."

She wanted it. She wanted it so badly.

"You did say that Seiji and you make your own world." Her wish said quietly. "Being on his hand is the ultimate exclusivity you can have with him. You share the same body, the same secrets... and no one could ever take you away from him. Not even your own mother."

"It's true." Midori felt her chest rise and fall rapidly as he breaths grew shallow. "I want to spend my time with him. I want us to be exclusive. I want to be special to him, and for him to be special to me, always. I want our time together to be uninterrupted forever."

"Then have you made a decision?"

Midori swallowed hard, and nodded. "Yes."

* * *

There had been a lot to discuss with Kiriyama. He came by over the next two days to work out the plan between himself and Seiji, usually during school hours so he wouldn't bump into any of Seiji's other friends who regularly visited him after school. When they had gone through the details one more time, Kiriyama took down Seiji's email address and said he'd get in touch again after a week or two. It had settled Seiji's mind a lot to see Kiriyama smile confidently, with self-respect, without any sinister intention or sadness hidden inside.

After Kiriyama left, however, Seiji was once again subject to the suffocating weight of waiting. Outside of catching up on schoolwork and talking with his friends, there was an awful lot of time to be had.

Unable to stay in his room all the time, Seiji limped around a lot around the halls of the hospital, much to the annoyance of the nurses on his case. He sometimes bumped into Sachiko and chatted with her, but most of his time was spent on a bench near Midori's room. He hadn't been able to find the courage to walk in and look at her, although he desperately wanted to. Midori's mother was in there nearly all the time during visiting hours, so Seiji contented himself with sitting as close as he could to Midori and praying desperately for her to wake up.

One late morning, Seiji was sitting on the bench and leaning against the wall, eyes closed as he gently drifted between dozing and waking, when he heard a familiar voice in front of him.

"...Seiji-kun."

Seiji looked up, and jerked himself upright from his slouch. Midori's mother, looking pale and withdrawn, was standing a few feet away, her eyes dull and downcast. Her pale hands were gripping the folds of her dress rigidly, but still betrayed a slight tremor.

"Kasugano-san," He managed, barely above a whisper, and his chest felt tight.

After a long, excruciating silence, he dared to glance up at her face. Her dull eyes suddenly registered him, and immediately, an explosion of anguish erupted in his head.

_What do you think you're doing here?_

_My little girl is in a coma again! I'm begging for her life and she can't hear a thing. It's a nightmare all over again._

_It's all because of you._

_This girl loves you more than anything, and this is how you pay her back? Your horrible reputation hurt her and you couldn't even stop it from happening, could you?_

_You couldn't even protect this one girl - you had to drag her down with you until the point she's nearly dead._

_What in the world made you think you deserved my little girl? What gave you the right to take her away from me again? Don't you know the hell we've already been through?_

_I never should have trusted you._

_Get the hell away from here. You have no right to be here._

_I don't want to see you._

_Get out, get out, GET OUT!_

Seiji couldn't breathe; the fierceness and terrible pain behind her eyes was palpable and entirely unbearable... he dropped his gaze to the floor. The blood in his head seemed to be rapidly receding somewhere as his head grew light-headed and his body felt cold. Whispers in his head told him to run, but he couldn't move.

Then finally, she let out a shuddering breath. For a moment, she tried to say something, but the words caught at her throat and she made a small choking noise instead. Instinctively, Seiji stole a glance at her drawn face. Tears were welling up in her already sore and puffy eyes, her dry lips trembling as she breathed shallowly, and he couldn't take it anymore.

"Kasugano-san!"

Seiji cursed himself in his head; his voice was too weak - he forced himself to take in a deep breath. He dropped onto his knees, not caring how the cold floor smashed into his bruised knees; his crutch slid from the wall and crashed onto the floor loudly, making Midori's mother jump, but his voice was louder than all.

"I'm sorry! I know I don't have the right to be here. I know I don't deserve Midori at all. It's my fault she's hurt, I should have protected her better, I'm nothing but muscle most times and even in this sorta situation I'm useless - I know, I know it all, and I'm so, so sorry Kasugano-san. I know what you went through last year, I-"

He swallowed, and tasted salt in his mouth as he continued,

"I know how much you love her, and I know how lonely you were without her by your side, and I know she's all you have left and I know I took her from you like I didn't know how precious or special she is- I was being stupid, and selfish, as though some violent jackass like me could ever be good enough for her or her future. I know all of this, but even so I have to beg you, please, please let me stay until she wakes up at least, because even though I don't deserve her, I have to see her eyes open, I have to know she'll be okay and then I'll leave her with you, I promise, it's just that- I have to be here. I need to be here, Kasugano-san. Please grant me at least that permission, please-"

"Seiji-kun, please stop talking for a moment!" She blurted out, and he realised she'd been trying to cut him off for a while; he'd been deaf during his pleading spiel, and he fell silent as he looked up at her desperately.

"I know."

His heart plummeted; her eyes were narrowed and her entire face bitter and angry, and he couldn't help trying to say something, to apologise again, but she choked out,

"No, you don't need to say anything. I know, Seiji-kun. I know how you must feel."

That was the last thing Seiji had expected her to say, and he stared up at her.

"Please stand up."

For a long moment, when he didn't move, she startled him by dropping down to her own knees before him.

"I wanted to think it was your fault. It shames me to admit that, but I really did. It was so much easier to believe you had stolen my daughter away from me, an evil influence that I could justifiably cast out of her life. But deep inside, I knew that couldn't be true. Because I know Midori more than anyone else, and... she chose you."

Seiji felt the weight of her words, and for no reason he could explain, he felt tears prick his eyes. Midori's mother breathed in slowly, shuddering, and whispered, "I don't deserve to blame you for anything, Seiji-kun. I know that whatever happened, you did what you could. Even without Kouta-chan insisting such things to me, I know you aren't really to blame for this. I am."

"Wh-what are you saying?" Seiji couldn't believe his ears.

"It's my fault. I said... some foolish things to her. I took away her phone and I tried to force restrictions on her because I didn't want her to see you. She could have called for help if she had her phone with her. I did some foolish things in retaliation for her wounding my ridiculously poor motherly pride and now-" A broken sob escaped from her wretchedly. "Now she's just paying for the stupid things I did-"

"No, Kasugano-san!" Seiji shook his head sharply, even though it hurt. "That's not the way it is at all- you couldn't have known- please, don't think it's your fault, that's ridiculous. If anything-"

"-Yes, perhaps it is Midori who is the fool here," She said with a dry laugh, "making us all worry like this and play the blame game..."

"Kasugano-san..."

"Seiji-kun." She reached out and gently touched his hand, and he could see that the conflict had left her eyes, leaving only genuine worry and grief. "I know what kind of person you are. Midori told me everything about you. If I had any doubts, you have quelled them with them with the words you spoke just now. Midori was right to say that you have changed."

"She changed me," He said immediately, the response reflexive more than anything, and she laughed a little.

"You have changed her, too. She used to be so quiet and shy, it was painful to watch. She never had friends before. She was always a bit of a loner and quite the odd one. But now... well, she's so much brighter now. I have you to owe that to."

She looked at him sadly, but with real fondness, and he felt his face burn.

"I-I'm nothing compared to her."

She looked at him intently for a moment, and he mustered all the genuinity he had in his gaze back. Then, with a small smile, she patted his hand and stood up.

"Shall we get something to eat?" She asked softly, and he felt a flood of warmth in his stomach.

"Yes, please," He mumbled, and she helped him up with his crutch.

* * *

"There is no turning back."

"I know."

"Then this is truly your answer?"

Midori nodded, her outstretched hand brandishing the key and throwing lights all over her surprised-looking doppelganger. "Please take it."

"I don't understand," said her wish. "You said that you wanted to be with him all the time. Don't you mean that?"

"I do." Midori smiled sadly. "But I know now that being just the two of us all the time isn't right. Everything that has happened has made me realise that one person is so much more than we think. We aren't cut-outs with no strings attached. We have lives, families and friends. We grew up from different backgrounds. When we're together, the rest of the world does seem to fade away, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

She looked at the key, and felt a deep longing tug in her heart, but she still held it out.

"So you... accept you have no control?"

"Yes." The fuzzy world around her seemed to pulse strongly, once, with warmth. "It's scary that we can't control our circumstances, or the feelings of the people around us. It's hard to fight against people who want to hurt Seiji-kun, or against my mother who wants to protect me. But when I see people like Kiriyama-san, I realise how big and deep one person is. There is so little we can ever control. The only thing I can control right now is myself, and the choices I make."

"And you choose to return to your own body."

"That's right. I won't run away." Midori looked at her wish straight in the eye, firm and resolute. "Even if I might die when I return, I can't live a lie. Though of course... I want to live. I want to live and face the truth." She smiled. "But if I absolutely must make a choice between an uncertain outcome with difficulty and truth, or an easy outcome with nothing real, then I know what I must do."

"You will also lose all the memories you had as Seiji's companion as his right hand, even if you are revived. You used to have twinges of those memories here and there, but upon your return you will have nothing. And you will never be able to go back to being his hand again. Are you okay with this?"

There was a sharp stab at her heart at the thought; it was costly, so costly, to lose those precious memories... and to never have that experience again... but Midori nodded. "As long as I remember everything else, it's okay."

"Very well." Her wish reached out and took the ethereal key from Midori's fingers, and gestured to the shining square of light: the door. "Take your leave, and I will lock the door for eternity behind you."

Midori moved towards the door; she could not see anything but pure whiteness beyond the edges. Turning around, she smiled and waved at her doppelganger. "Thank you for giving me courage. I'll be going, then."

Her wish smiled back for the first time. "Good luck."

Still smiling, Midori turned back to the door, took a deep breath, and stepped through it.

* * *

The room was quiet, save for the low thrum of machines and the tapping of heels as nurses swept from one room to the other in their routines. Midori's mother had left the room for a couple of hours to take a shower, and Seiji was sitting in her usual spot, in the chair by the bed. The doctors had told him he could go home tomorrow. The minor treatments to his body had gone through smoothly, and they had replaced the cast on his leg with a lighter one. Nearly all the bandages were gone now, save for the ones around his knuckles and his ribs.

But Midori had remained the same since Seiji had been allowed into the room to see her. Actually, she looked weaker by the day, her hair growing matted against her pale complexion and her face looking thinner. It had been hard not being able to see her, but witnessing the slow change every day was almost worse. This sort of waiting drained and grated at hope painfully, gradually but surely stripping it away.

It was the first time Seiji was alone with Midori in the hospital room, and for the longest time, he had just watched her breathe into her oxygen mask. Finally, he spoke.

"Midori... wake up."

He reached over and took her limp hand in his own, and held it firmly.

"Everyone misses you. I don't really need to tell you how worried your mother is, do I? She's only gone for a short while, by the way, don't worry. She'll be right back. Makie-san might come back with her again. Y'know, Makie-san's a bit quiet, like you, but she looks at you with the eyes of a family member. She also helps to replace the flowers on your bedside table. Aside from all that, she's been helping your mom a lot, in case you're concerned.

"Some of your friends came by the other day, with a whole bunch of presents. You'll go nuts when you see them, it's the kind of stuff you'd love - mochi and biscuits, and some girly set of green pajamas - they also brought school notes for you from every class, so you won't fall behind.

"And your best friend, Iwasaki? She comes by and chats with you nearly every day. For ages. I can't understand how girls can have such long, one-sided conversations like that so frequently. Crazy. Er, what I'm doing now doesn't count, okay? A-anyway, I usually bump into her when she's leaving. She says she has to keep you updated 'cause you're lonely, but she looks pretty lonely herself every time she leaves, so you shouldn't leave her hanging.

"Shingyouji comes by practically every day, too. He brings stuff for your mom every time, and gives you a little 'you can do it!' pep talk when she's not around. It's kind of stupid, isn't it? 'You can do it'?" Seiji chuckled. "But maybe he's right. Maybe you're struggling to come back to us right now, and you need every bit of cheering you can get. If that's the case, then you better know, I'm screaming my support and running through the sidelines all the way."

Chuckling to himself at the mental image of him roaring 'MIDORI!' while tearing down a pavement alongside a marathon-running Midori, he pulled out a folded piece of letter paper from his pocket. He unfolded it with one hand, smoothing out the crinkles with his fingers, and looked once more at the text he had read and re-read several times that morning.

"Miyahara gave me this letter last night. We had a student from America study here last year. Her name is Lucy, and she's a really bright and cheerful girl. You would've liked her and gotten along really well with her if she were still here, I'm sure of that. She went back to America, but she keeps in touch with Miyahara. I don't know why, but when Miyahara told her briefly what happened, she wanted him to give you this letter. I'm sorry... I ended up reading it. But it seems Lucy meant for me to read it out loud to you."

Lucy's handwriting on the butter-yellow paper was curvy and untraditional, but she had printed the characters large with bold, black ink, so it was easy to read. He took a deep breath, and read it out loud.

_Dear Midori-chan,_

_My name is Lucy Winladd. I'm one of Sawamura's admirers! But I admire you even more. You may not know me, but I wanted you to know that I am supporting you very much._

_I know you were in a coma once before. I believe you chose to wake up then. It was probably a difficult choice, but you did the right thing. Now Sawamura knows you properly. That's right, I forgot to say, congratulations! It's a bit belated, but I'm so happy you are with Sawamura now._

_I just wanted to say that if you aren't waking up yet because you have to make a difficult choice again, I want to bless you with courage. Be strong! I've heard lots of stories of people being in comas before. Sometimes, people have fantastic dreams while they're sleeping. Usually, they're on a journey towards the light. So don't get distracted, even if it feels comfortable and easy in the dark. Walk into the light, and wake up! People are waiting for you, right?_

_I hope to meet you in person, one day. I'm sure we will be very good friends._

_You can do it, dear fairy!_

_Love, Lucy._

Seiji set the letter down by the flowers on Midori's table, and looked at where both his hands were holding Midori's. Her hand looked so small in his... he smiled a little.

"It's weird, isn't it? It's almost like she's met you before or something..."

Midori's fingers squeezed his own.

His head snapped up, his mouth falling open, to see Midori looking at him. Her eyes were heavily lidded, but they were open, and he saw her smile weakly at him through the plastic of her oxygen mask.

"Seiji-kun..." Her voice was so small, he wouldn't have heard her at all if it weren't so quiet. Her fingers squeezed at his again. "I'm back."

He was the one who had air enough in his lungs to shout out loud if he'd wanted to, but he had no words. Instead, he gripped her hand tightly, and made no effort to hide the tears spilling down his cheeks.

Just then, Midori's mother walked in with Makie. They had been talking, but stopped immediately at the sight of Midori awake, smiling at Seiji.

"Midori!"

Midori's mother rushed forward, her eyes wide, and Makie immediately ran out to find a doctor. Reluctant though he was, Seiji knew that Midori's mother deserved the bedside more than he did right now, and stepped back so she could touch her daughter's face and ascertain she wasn't dreaming.

As the room filled and overflowed with glorious relief, Seiji finally felt a smile spread on his lips.

"Welcome back, Midori," He whispered. It seemed she heard him, because she gave him a triumphant smile over her mother's shoulder as the doctor and nurse bustled into the room.

* * *

Kouta had just found out he had passed his first belt exam, Midori was awake, and the weather was perfect. He had been smiling fit to burst while walking to school, humming to himself and striding with a whole new confidence in his step. He was pretty sure Iwasaki had heard about him passing the first exam, and he was excited somehow to know she would probably congratulate him some time later that day. Yes, this was certainly a wonderful start to a beautiful morning.

So he didn't see why God had to play a cruel joke on him by having him innocently turn a corner, only to have the Crimson Angels suddenly ambush him.

"Kouta!" Miku Nekobe, the cat-faced leader of the girl gang, launched herself at him. Kouta collapsed under the weight of her tackle, yelping, and cringed at what he saw between them: a high-collared emerald-green dress adorned with numerous frilly layers, and a massive silky bow that put Sailor Venus to shame. Her underlings immediately surrounded him in a tight circle to prevent his escape, as Miku gave him a huge smile that bordered on a leer. "I saw this fancy Victorian-style dress at a shop last night, and I just had to get it for you!"

"Th-this is too early!" Kouta stammered as she grabbed his scarf and threw his schoolbag over to one of her cohorts, "You can't make me go to school like-"

"You can change back later if you like," Miku tittered, and although Kouta had learnt all kinds of karate techniques to get out of her hold, he couldn't summon the strength to really hurt a girl, as scary and strong as she was. He helplessly let her yank his clothes off, as always, and her underlings assisted in forcing the dress over his head. He couldn't help holding back tears of frustration as they cooed over him, and it was all he could do to not snap and hit Miku as she affixed the big bow onto his hair.

"You're so cute! I knew these would be perfect on you!" Miku squealed, beaming at him, and her underlings nodded behind her in a chorus, all red-faced as they ogled him in the humiliating outfit. Stupid frilly gothic cosplay, Kouta cursed in his head, staring down at himself; it was cold in this dress, and now the girls were holding him down and trying to put his feet into a pair of stockings.

"Please just let me go!" Kouta burst out, finally losing restraint; every bit of his masculinity was bashed to bits already, and he was sick of it and angry at himself for not being able to stop the Crimson Angel attacks despite his efforts. "I really don't like this!"

The Crimson Angels all paused in the act of putting one of his feet in a shiny black shoe, their wide eyes on Kouta full of surprise. Then Miku laughed loudly, her voice full of glee as she giggled, "You're so cute when you're mad, Kouta!"

"I'm serious!"

"I know," Miku was gazing at him in a slightly unfocused way, still smiling widely, "But I just don't want to listen when you look this cute!" She leaned towards him, cupping his face in both her hands as her eyes glittered. "I could just eat you up right-"

Suddenly, Miku gasped and let go of Kouta as a flash of someone's shoe shot between them. Kouta blinked, and followed the leg up to its owner: Iwasaki.

"What are you doing, bullying my classmate?" She asked Miku, her eyes narrowed, and Miku scowled back at her.

"Who do you think you are, wench, getting between me and my prey?" Miku stood up, her aura menacing as her gang members got behind her, all glaring at Iwasaki. Miku hissed, "Don't you know we're the Crimson Angels?"

"Like I care about that," Iwasaki retorted, and Miku snarled,

"Get her!"

All the girls ran towards her, one of them reaching a hand out to grab for Iwasaki's hair and the others aiming for her limbs; before Kouta could yell for Iwasaki to get away, however, she had thrown quick jabs at two of the girls and thrown the largest one over her shoulder.

"Ow!" The girls drew back with tears in their eyes as they rubbed at their faces, but Iwasaki wasn't done yet; she suddenly dashed forward and swung her arm around. Hastily, the girls retreated backwards, but Iwasaki managed to get in two swipes against their clothes. Next second, they gasped as all their coat buttons clattered to the ground.

"That's in revenge for stripping my friend," Iwasaki declared.

Miku, whose buttons had also been torn off, quickly raised her hands in defense and glared at Iwasaki. It seemed that she had realised Iwasaki was a formidable opponent, however, because she whined, "Wh-what is it to you? We're not hurting him. We're just putting him in pretty clothes. C'mon, don't you admit he looks good?"

Iwasaki glanced behind her at Kouta, and he felt his face heat up despite the cold; he'd forgotten momentarily what sort of getup he was in. He felt his heart sink as Iwasaki gave him a calculating look, her eyes sweeping over the bow, the frills and the heels, and he wanted to quietly drown himself when she turned back to the Crimson Angels and said, "Yeah, he does look very cute. He's probably prettier than most girls."

Damn, it hurt to hear it from her right now, even if it was true. Kouta sniffled, trying not to be overcome with how pathetic he felt, when Iwasaki abruptly grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"Here's the thing though... I think you girls are missing a crucial fact, here." Gripping the front of his dress, she ripped the buttons apart and exposed his bare chest to them. "He's a guy!"

"I-Iwasaki-san!" Kouta felt his face flush completely as she firmly patted her hand against his chest and continued,

"You girls are too caught up in your ridiculous fantasies if you haven't noticed he's got muscle! He's just too much of a gentleman to beat the crap out of you girls, like you deserve. But let me tell you, if I catch you trying to force him into one of these stupid dresses again, you'll be sorry!"

Miku and her gang stared in shock for a few seconds. Then Miku's eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"Damn you! Iwasaki, is it?" She shrieked as she turned tail and ran off, her underlings close behind. "I'll remember this!"

Iwasaki snorted, looking after them disdainfully. "They're a hundred years too early to threaten *me*."

"Uhmm... Iwasaki-san..." He mumbled, and she seemed to only realise then that she was still touching his bare chest. Hastily, she let him go, and bent down to help him pick up his school uniform.

"Honestly, Kouta. I did hear about these incidents before, but I didn't think they happened in the morning!"

"Er- they usually don't, but I guess she was a bit excited today." Kouta wrenched the dress off himself and scrambled to get his trousers on, his teeth chattering in the frigid air.

"'Excited' wasn't the word I was thinking of. I mean, what a pervy old woman, to strip you like that."

"You sort of just stripped me yourself, didn't you?"

"No!" Iwasaki turned around to glare at him, but at the sight of him shirtless, she blushed despite her fierce expression and looked away again. "I-I was just pointing out something, and I needed an obvious example to get through their thick skulls!"

"Yes, yes." Kouta couldn't help laughing, and smiled at Iwasaki's back. "Thank you for helping me out."

"You're welcome." She looked a little embarrassed as she stole a glance at him buttoning his shirt up. "I don't exactly approve of you raising your fist against girls, even if they are scary ones like that. Maybe..." She looked determinedly at the brick wall. "Maybe I should start walking home with you from now on. You know... in case you run into them again."

He stared at her, halfway through pulling on his long coat. "R-really? You... don't mind?"

"Well, it's convenient anyway," She said quickly, shrugging a shoulder, "I mean, you go to my dad's dojo after school a few times a week already, so we're in the same direction most of the time."

"I suppose so." Kouta picked up his school bag and dusted it off. "Actually... come to think of it, Iwasaki-san... don't you usually take a different route to school? I've never seen you on this way to school before."

"Erm." Iwasaki walked a little faster, keeping her face out of Kouta's view as she spoke. "I know that you usually come to school this way, and I just- you know, I wanted to say, congratulations on your first belt. It must have been hard with your injuries. I'm glad for you."

"Oh." Kouta's heart was light. "Thank you, Iwasaki-san, for going out of your way."

"D-don't misunderstand!" Iwasaki didn't turn around, her walk growing faster. "It's just- I didn't want to say it at the classroom and draw attention to it, that's all. Okay?"

"Okay," Kouta replied, and then she suddenly spun around, stopping him in his tracks. His face was pink as she gazed at him for a moment, her expression sober, before she raised her hand. He stayed perfectly still as her fingers lightly brushed against his temple and sifted into his hair... He shut his eyes, not sure of what he was expecting, but his heart was thudding loudly in his chest.

There was a slight rustle and a click, and his eyes flew open. She pulled her hand away from his hair and dangled the big, silky bow in front of his eyes, which he had completely forgotten about.

"You are a bit too cute, sometimes." Iwasaki teased, her grin mischievous. Kouta felt his face burn with embarrassment during the rest of the walk to school.

* * *

It was great to see her room again. Even though she had been in a coma for most of her stay at the hospital, it felt as though she had been aware every day of it. The first thing on her agenda upon arriving home had been a long, hot shower. Then she had changed into the new pajamas her friends had bought for her, which were comfortable and warm. Now, Midori sat on her bed and sank down into her familiar covers with a sigh of relief.

"How are you feeling?"

Midori looked up at the anxious face of her mother, and gave a warm smile back.

"I'm fine. Really, I am."

Her mother touched her cheek gently, drinking in the sight of Midori's open eyes, and then smiled back at her daughter.

"Alright, darling. Rest some more."

It was strange that she was being ordered to sleep even after she'd been asleep for so long, but Midori did have to admit, she was very tired. She scooted under the covers, but she didn't feel like shutting her eyes just yet. She stared up at the ceiling in the semi-darkness, just thinking.

She couldn't really remember exactly what had happened before her coma. She knew the gist of it, and flashes of memories came to mind here and there, but they felt oddly disjointed. Somehow, she felt as though something extremely important had happened during the whole thing. She felt like she had made a decision that had changed everything, but she wasn't sure exactly what. Still, being here, awake and alive, was enough for her.

Well, at least, it was enough because she knew Seiji was okay.

Seiji. They hadn't really been able to speak very much since she had woken up. He had been discharged from the hospital the day after, and then he had paid her visits once every three days. Every time he came, there had been people with her, whether it was her mother, Makie, Kouta, Iwasaki, Nakano, Chika or Igarashi. Other people had asked him why he wasn't coming as often to see her, especially since he had been the most worried out of them all, but he had only apologised sincerely and promised it was only because he had something very important to take care of.

Midori clutched at her pillow, feeling empty. She really wanted to be with him.

There were gentle knocks at her door, before Midori's mother poked her head into her room. Meeting Midori's inquiring gaze, she smiled.

"She's awake. Go ahead, Seiji-kun."

Midori's heart leapt in her throat as the door opened wider, and Seiji stepped in, leaning on his crutch. She barely registered her mother saying she would leave them be for now before shutting the door behind him. He looked at Midori with a blistering intensity that threw shocks down her spine.

"Hey," he said, and she couldn't help smiling.

"Hi, Seiji-kun."

He hesitated for a second before sitting down on her bed, beside her, and set down his crutch. Feeling his weight next to her was entirely welcome and wonderful; she shyly snuck a hand out of the covers and brushed his hand. He immediately grasped her hand back, and she let out a happy sigh.

"I'm sorry I couldn't see you more often, the past week." He looked regretfully at her, gripping her hand a little tighter. "Believe me, I would have been at your side every minute if I could've. But there's something really important I have to do."

"What is it?"

"I've worked something out with Satoshi. That is, Kiriyama. I know it's crazy, but we've cooked up this plan to chase all the morons after my head out of our lives for good. So it'll be safe for you."

Midori stared, and opened her mouth uncertainly, wanting to tell him that he better not be putting himself in any danger, but Seiji seemed to read her mind.

"I had to go see some dangerous people, but I haven't done anything violent or illegal, so don't worry. I just had to be there, to make an impression. And the plan... I think it's working." She was reassured by the fact he did not once look away from her face while he explained; she knew that meant Seiji trusted Kiriyama, which meant she could, too. "I only have to do this for a little longer, and then it'll be fine. I'm so sorry, Midori."

"It's okay," Midori whispered, squeezing his hand, "I'm just glad you're here right now."

"I'm the one who's glad you're here right now." She blushed at the way his eyes looked when he said that. "Do you... remember anything, from your coma?"

She shook her head, and Seiji looked torn between relief and disappointment. "To be honest, Seiji-kun, my memory is a little fuzzy on the events just before the accident."

"Really?" His eyebrows shot up. "Then do you not remember how you got injured?"

"Oh... no, I do remember that. And I remember what Kiriyama-san said to me..."

"What he said to you?" Seiji's eyes flashed momentarily with worry and anger, but his voice was even when he asked, "What did he say?"

"Well... he said many things." Although many of the things Kiriyama said had been nasty insults, there had been an unsettling seed of truth sown in them. Midori paused as she collected her thoughts, wanting to summarise what had been reeling through her head since she had woken up and mulled over things. Finally, she spoke quietly. "Kiriyama-san said a lot of things about us. One of them was about how different we are. And when I think about it, people really might think that our differences will break us apart eventually. We really are so different... and that's difficult, isn't it? If we are are honest with ourselves, I mean."

Seiji remained quiet, but his hold on her hand remained tight. She looked at him with a sad smile. "It would be so much easier if we could just be together without worrying about all those differences... I wish sometimes there were a way we could just be together, without having to worry about anyone else."

He gasped, and she looked at him in surprise. He shut his mouth and shook his head, however, despite her curious gaze, so she went on.

"I think I realised something, though, after all the things we've been through... Running away doesn't change anything. It doesn't solve our problems. We have to face it head on... No one ever has an easy time to earn the things that truly matter. And I understood one other thing."

She looked into Seiji's eyes with all the earnesty she could summon. "I'm truly sorry, Seiji-kun, for saying before that I didn't care about my own safety, as long as you were okay. That was self-centred of me, to think that if I did nothing but just care about you, everything would turn out alright. I'm sorry I always blame myself when I never even tried to change. I've decided, Seiji-kun, that I have to grow stronger. So it's not just you who has to protect me. We'll do it together, Seiji-kun."

Seiji was staring at her, open-mouthed. "Midori," he managed, but it seemed he couldn't think of anything else to say.

She didn't really want him to say anything. Wordlessly, she held out her arms to him.

In a moment, he had pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, breathing deeply against his chest; the faint scent of his aftershave and the heat of his body was almost overwhelmingly comforting. She let out a happy noise as his hold on her tightened.

"You must be tired," he murmured eventually, and she nodded against his embrace.

"I am, but... Just a little longer, Seiji-kun. Please." She pressed her fingers deeper into his back, and whispered, "I've missed you."

He sucked in his breath suddenly at her words. His hands grazed her back and ran down her arms suddenly, sending delicious tingles along them. His grip tightened on her arms as he pulled her away from his chest. She looked up, surprised, and he dipped his head down and touched his mouth to hers.

It was shallow, at first. They had done this only once before, and they needed a shy re-introduction to each other when it came to this level of intimacy. Midori could barely dare to breathe, afraid to break the sheer sweetness of the moment. He was just as gentle as he had been the first time; she melded easily into the rhythm he set with his lips, and wondered for a moment if she might faint from the pleasure.

After a long, soft kiss, however, Seiji moved his hands from her arms to her back, pressing closer to her, and deepened the kiss. She let out a noise of surprise, but when he dragged his fingers down her back and moved his mouth insistently, Midori let out a soft moan right into him. She blushed furiously at herself - what an embarrassingly honest noise! - but Seiji didn't seem to mind at all. Rather, he lifted her back so that she was pushed up against him, his mouth unrelenting, and Midori gripped at his back, working to reciprocate while her head spun dizzily at the newness of it all.

She had always known Seiji could be aggressive against his enemies, but she hadn't quite imagined him ever being aggressive towards her. Really, the way he was touching her was shocking, as he was usually so reserved in this territory. Strangely, it didn't scare her, even though her heart was beating like crazy.

When his warm hands slipped under her pajama top, however, Midori couldn't help opening her eyes in alarm. She tugged at his back, wanting him to slow down, but when he did not respond and merely stroked her bare sides with his callused fingertips, she let out a jagged gasp and broke their liplock.

He opened his eyes only then, and after one glimpse at Midori's expression, he looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, starting to remove his hands from her sides, "I scared you..."

"N-no, Seiji-kun," Midori whispered, her face scarlet as she held his wrists in place under her shirt, "I'm... actually quite happy. It's just... this doesn't really seem like you."

"I..." Seiji buried his face above Midori's shoulder, hiding his expression. "I... saw the pictures Satoshi took. When he was... doing stuff... to you."

Midori felt her face pale at his words. She'd been blocking most of that out, and she hated that the mention of it sent an unpleasant, cold chill through her body. Seiji's hands on her were warm, however, and firmly holding her to him.

"I didn't want to see those pictures, but I... I had to know what he did to you. And I wanted to just... blot him out of existence from your skin. I don't want him to linger on you, Midori. No one else should ever be with you, like this. It drives me insane just imagining it." He turned his head slightly, so that his lips were just above her ear. "I'm sorry I was a bit hasty... I just had this urge to claim you as mine."

Midori knew she was breathing so shallowly she might hyperventilate, but she couldn't help it; the things Seiji could say sometimes...!

"What happened with Kiriyama-san... it bothers me, if I am honest with you. I would be lying if I said it wasn't awful. But Seiji-kun... even just the smallest things you do... how I feel afterwards, it just can't compare." She moved her hands up to clasp at the back of his neck, wanting to communicate through her eyes the raw emotion inside. "Being with you makes all the shadows disappear... You fill me with light."

His breathing sounded broken in her ear in response to her words; he said nothing, but lifted himself up again so he could kiss her once more. She closed her eyes, drowning in the sensation. His hands remained on her sides, going no further. After a while, Seiji pulled away from her and said quietly, "Okay, now you're really tired."

"I-I'm sorry," she said faintly, wishing she had the energy to deny it, but Seiji laughed softly.

"Don't be stupid. You just woke up from a coma, and your injuries are still healing. I'm a jerk for going this far already, really."

"No, don't say that." As he shifted his weight from atop her, however, she tugged at his uniform sleeve, looking into his eyes. "Can you stay with me a little longer?"

"Yes." It took some shuffling and wiggling around a bit, especially since Seiji still had a cast on his leg, but he managed to get into the covers with Midori properly so he could spoon beside her.

"I hope it's okay... just until I fall asleep?" She murmured.

"I'll be here."

"Thank you, Seiji-kun." She smiled as she closed her eyes, comfortable in his arms and the gentle rise and fall of his chest. She was starting to drift off when he spoke.

"You're so real."

"Of course I am," she murmured sleepily, bemused, and he held her to him closely, nuzzling the back of her head. His next words were so quiet, she almost didn't hear him, even in the stillness of her bedroom.

"Midori. I love you."

Her eyes flew open, her mouth opening slightly in shock. He hadn't ever said that since the time she had first confessed to him. His heartbeat was strong against her back, his embrace warm, his breath gentle on her neck, and she felt tears wet her lashes.

I love _you_, she thought, and in that quiet, joyous space, she let sleep finally lull her away to gentle dreams.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope it is understandable that I took a while to crunch this one out, compared to the other chapters in this story. I really wanted the resolution to be done right, so I put in a lot of time, and hopefully it has paid off. Phew! And that just leaves the final epilogue chapter. I hope this has been a satisfying ride for you readers as much as it has been for me. Thanks for sticking through to the end with me!


	20. Epilogue

**Firsts**

A Midori no Hibi Fanfic

_(Disclaimer: I own nothing from Midori no Hibi, though if I had a choice I'd totally dress Kouta up everyday.)_

**Epilogue**

* * *

_That's it. Everything's established now, and I quit all the difficult circles I'd offend by starting work for my family._

_This is more than I deserve, but thank you, Seiji. Good luck._

Kiriyama read over his email draft one more time, and smiled. He couldn't believe it. Seiji and Kiriyama had successfully pulled off a massive hoax. It didn't hurt that on two occasions, some knuckleheads thought it would be a good idea to try and challenge Seiji and had gotten completely thrashed for their efforts. That had only been twice, though. Most of the negotiations had been done entirely through talks, mild bribes, subtle, verbal manipulation and many mutual agreements.

When Kiriyama had mentioned the website that archived Midori's days as an idol, he'd offered to track down the website administrator. The moment he'd mentioned it, though, Seiji had spat out the milk coffee he'd been drinking and growled something about 'Takamizawa', and then told Kiriyama he'd take care of it. The next day, Seiji had confidently stated the website issue was resolved, and Kiriyama had been surprised to find no traces remained online of Midori at all, not even in forums. It was mysterious, but Seiji was unwilling to talk about it, so Kiriyama decided to assume Seiji's connections were more useful than he'd thought.

As a result of their efforts, everyone now was too terrified of him and Seiji to do anything more than bow their heads to anything he asked for or demanded. Really, Kiriyama had been most worried that Hanabishi Kyousuke from Shin Sakura might pose a threat, but it turned out that Hanabishi had been fairly traumatised after the incident and even helped further Seiji's Death God status by retiring from his delinquency. It was ridiculous, but Kiriyama couldn't be less grateful for it. He pressed the send button on his new phone, and swivelled in his chair to look at his desk.

Spread out on it were pages full of contact details, addresses, part-time hours and levels of pay. Of the contacts he still had and trusted, many had given him a whole host of work opportunities. He hadn't even thought it would be possible for them to be so eager to help him out. All the jobs he had marked the details down for were clean, normal jobs: furniture mover, parcel deliverer, gasoline stand assistant, coffee shop waiter... He had yet to go and sign up for the jobs, but he was going to start doing that this afternoon.

His phone buzzed with Seiji's reply.

_Yeah, yeah. Hope I never see you again. Good luck, Satoshi._

His mouth quirked into a smile, though an ache rended his heart. It would take a long time before things would be fully recovered between himself and Seiji, he knew that. Seiji had known that, too, but he had still worked together with Kiriyama and put his faith in him as a person, even before they were properly reconciled. The least Kiriyama could do, he supposed, was to respond by working to be worthy of that faith. Then maybe one day...

His ring tone began to sound, and he perked up when he saw the name on the screen.

"Hey, Sachiko," He answered, "Of course we're still getting lunch together. I'm headed out, now." He picked up the papers with one hand, keeping the phone to his ear with the other, and shoved the papers into his pocket alongside his keys and wallet. "I had stuff to do, okay? Yeesh. Oh, fine. I'm sorry I'm late..."

He headed outside, where the weather was warmer than yesterday, and the door shut with a snap behind him.

The same instant, miles away in the hospital, Kiriyama's father opened his eyes.

* * *

Miyahara was startled to see three students run up to him one morning, even before he had reached the school gates of Sakuradamon.

"What do you want?" He asked, alarmed. On closer inspection, the three students were wearing uniforms from Touka Middle School, which was just a few blocks down the road; Miyahara recognised none of them. However, all three of them stood up straight, their arms by their sides as they exclaimed,

"Good morning, lieutenant!"

"Good morning!"

"Good morning, sir!"

"We three are third year juniors from Touka Middle School, and we have taken the entrance exams for Sakuradamon High School next year!"

"We have seen you running past our school many times, escaping from big, scary gangs."

"We recently heard that you were a great force to be reckoned with, during the Ogurabashi incident."

"We admire you very much for your strength and your speed!"

"We would like to serve under you when we come to Sakuradamon this spring."

"We want to learn to be a great man like you!"

"Please take good care of us!"

They bowed down low as Miyahara, going crimson, frantically waved his hands at them. "H-hey now, I'm just Mad Dog's-"

"-first lieutenant?" Sawamura himself finished for him, looking amused as he stepped beside Miyahara.

"Sawamura-san!"

The three boys suddenly snapped to attention, stiffening straight up like rods at the sight of Mad Dog. "G-good morning!" They chorused.

"Almost reminds me of when we became friends," Sawamura said quietly in Miyahara's ear, laughing at the way the middle school students were so terrified they were sweating bullets in the winter air. "Looks like you've got a good set of boys to take care of you this year, eh?"

"They- they should be idolising you, not me!" Miyahara whispered, flustered, and Sawamura clapped him on the shoulder.

"Why not? You're a great guy, Miyahara." He waved and went on through the gates, leaving the students from Touka jelly-legged with relief. They immediately began chirruping their thoughts at Miyahara, their eyes sparkling with adoration.

"You really are so amazing, lieutenant!"

"You are on such close terms with a terrifying person like M-Mad Dog!"

"You are a strong guy like him, but you are so much more approachable! You're so cool!"

Miyahara finally let out a booming laugh, and gave them a thumbs-up as he grinned at them. "Alright, I'll initiate you three if you really are willing to be my underlings. Hope you're prepared for it!"

Ayase rolled her eyes extravagantly as she passed by the spectacle, and upon seeing Narushima entering the gates just ahead of her, a sunny smile lit her face and she ran to catch up.

* * *

"Don't look now, but Yamanishi-kun is at the classroom door."

Iwasaki nearly spat her milk out; swallowing with difficulty, she whispered, "Has he seen me yet? Can I hide?"

Chika and Midori exchanged glances before shaking their heads.

"He's already here," Chika said in a voice used to express condolences, and Iwasaki could only inwardly groan before a very insistent series of pokes landed on her shoulder.

"Iwasaki. You got a minute?" Yamanishi drawled, and Iwasaki turned around and mustered up a polite smile.

"Erm, hello senpai. I'm having lunch with my friends at the moment." She shot Chika and Midori a pleading glance out of the corner of her eye, and the two girls immediately looked gravely at Yamanishi, nodding their solemn agreement that this was a sacred ceremony not to be interrupted.

"I'm only askin' for a minute," He said with a grin, "You gotta eat that badly? C'mon, don't be so stingy with me."

Ughhhh, Iwasaki thought. Yamanishi was a super annoying upperclassman from the boy's football club, and he was well-known for being a playboy. His next target had been Iwasaki for quite a while, and her increasingly cold attitude towards him seemed to only fuel his drive to win her over.

"If you have something to say, you can tell it to me now," Iwasaki said coolly, but Yamanishi looked undeterred.

"Well, if you really want your friends to witness this event, I'll be glad to oblige." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, and for a moment she wondered if punching him now would count as self-defense.

"Go ahead, senpai," She said with a perfect tone of indifference.

"Fine. I got a couple free tickets to the amusement park for this Saturday. Y'know how they got a new aquarium and everythin'?" Oh crap, Iwasaki thought. She'd hoped he wouldn't ever make a bold move, but clearly she'd hoped wrong. "Anyway, the friend I asked told me this mornin' it's his grandma's birthday that day so he can't make it. He'd forgotten! Can you believe it?"

He paused here, giving her an abandoned puppy dog look, and Iwasaki felt glad that he wasn't asking Chika because she was looking genuinely sympathetic. Yamanishi's tricks were older than dirt to Iwasaki, so she didn't even bother responding. He only kept his smug smile on, however, as though he knew she was playing hard to get. He was infuriating. Leaning close to her, he said smoothly,

"So I was thinkin', if you're free this Saturday-"

"Beniko-san!"

Everyone turned to see Kouta standing behind Yamanishi, but no one looked more surprised than Iwasaki.

"D'you mind? I'm talking to her at the moment, kid." Yamanishi said irritably, but Kouta narrowed his eyes at him.

"Sorry to interrupt," Kouta said, his tone utterly unapologetic, "But Kurogane-sensei is looking for Beniko-san urgently." He stressed the syllables to her name very particularly.

"Oh, I better go then- sorry senpai," Iwasaki said hastily, and she quickly got up and walked alongside Kouta. As they left the classroom, Yamanishi called after her,

"I'll be waitin' right here!"

As soon as they were ten paces out the classroom, Iwasaki let out a loud sigh.

"What does Kurogane-sensei want?" She asked Kouta, "Talk about good timing, I hope it lasts all lunch break."

"Actually..." Kouta looked sheepish. "I made that up. He isn't really looking for you."

"What?"

"Well- your expression just looked like you were saying, 'get me out of here!' so I just made up something on the spot," Kouta's words tumbled out of his mouth in a rush. "I'm sorry if I misread you."

"No! It's totally fine," Iwasaki exclaimed, letting out a laugh, "Thank you for saving me. Seriously, that guy doesn't know when to quit."

"There are some bad rumours about him going around," Kouta said a little nervously, "Please be careful around him, Iwasaki-san."

Iwasaki stopped walking, and Kouta looked around, surprised.

"Why are you calling me 'Iwasaki' again?" She asked curtly, her annoyance masking an unprecedented level of disappointment. He turned a little red.

"Uhm... I- I'm sorry I called you by your first name, back in the classroom. It's just that Yamanishi-senpai was addressing you so familiarly, and I guess I..." Kouta blushed deeper, and Iwasaki felt something inside her melt and bubble excitedly at the words he did not say. Instead, he mumbled, "Never mind... I won't do that again."

"But I didn't mind," She blurted out, "You calling me by my first name, I mean." Iwasaki wished he wouldn't stare at her like that; she felt embarrassed enough already.

"Th-then... may I call you Beniko-san?" Kouta asked, and she nodded.

"O-okay then. Beniko-san."

She had no idea why she felt so incredibly shy all of a sudden; she turned her head to face the wall as they walked, feeling her cheeks grow warm.

"Look..." She realised she was fidgeting with her fingers, and put them behind her back. "Remember you owe me one? For getting you out of the lockers, I mean."

"Oh, of course," Kouta said, sounding surprised, "Is there a favour you would like to ask of me?"

"Yeah." Iwasaki looked at him. At first glance Kouta was so short and neat you could never imagine him to be anything other than a wimpy goody-two-shoes. But she'd seen other sides to him and knew he could yell like a man and fight like one, too. He might look ridiculously cute with a dress and a bow, but Iwasaki had been far more enthralled by his steely expression and the solidity in his voice when he'd shouted at the Crimson Angels to stop. When it came down to it, Kouta was reliable and courageous to the core. "Kouta. Take me out on a date this Saturday."

"What?" Kouta stared at her, open-mouthed, but she wasn't about to repeat her request; she knew she was blushing, but kept her eyes trained on his.

When he realised he hadn't heard wrong, he blushed, too. "Oh! S-sure. Where do you want to go?"

Her heart gave an unexpected swoop and scream of approval, a cheering squad bursting into song and somersaults, but out loud she said casually, "I've heard the amusement park has a new aquarium..."

"Oh, I've heard about that, too! That sounds fun, Beniko-san." Kouta smiled at her, looking genuinely pleased, and Iwasaki found herself smiling happily back.

Back at the classroom, Yamanishi was completely rejected - much to his shock - as Iwasaki told him plainly that she wasn't available on Saturday because, in fact, she had a date.

* * *

It was nice to be able to find Midori at the park, and be absolutely unconcerned about whether she would be kidnapped or whether some idiot would try and attack him along the way. The feeling of freedom would take some getting used to, but Seiji and Midori were both quite happy to adjust to it. As they walked, Midori glanced up at the trees, which were no longer looking as stark or bleak; the snow had melted, and there were small buds growing amongst the branches. "The weather is getting warmer."

"Yeah. It'll soon be spring." Seiji agreed. "Time flies, huh?"

"You'll be graduating soon, and I'll be in my senior second year."

"Graduation?" He made a face. "Wow, already?"

"What do you want to do after you graduate?"

He tapped his chin, in thought. "Well, I might start working straightaway. I could work in motorcycle repairs, or something like that."

"Really? Have you never considered college?"

"I don't know, my grades kind of suck. Though I guess they have been improving lately..." Here, he gave her a nudge, and Midori blushed, the corners of her lips turning upwards.

"If I did go to college," he went on, "I guess I could have a better shot at being a normal salaryman. Can you imagine me being an office worker?" He laughed at the image, and though Midori laughed too, it was for a different reason.

"I can imagine it," she said easily, and he blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes." She squeezed his arm. "Whatever you choose to do, I can imagine it being done in your way, Seiji-kun. You are earnest and hardworking when you want to be. I know as long as you want to do it, you'll shine."

His cheeks were scarlet as he scratched his nose, trying to look indifferent as he said, "Oh."

"I really think so." She pressed.

"I know you do. That's what makes it so incredible." He smiled at her. "What about you? You're crazy smart, you know, catching up all the work you missed while you were in hospital."

"Ah, well, I'm still in first year, so that's possible." Midori said, flushing.

"Don't be modest, you're smart." He chuckled. "So, what are you thinking of doing after graduation?"

"I-I don't know," Midori stammered, blushing, and Seiji smirked at her.

"Don't tell me you thought of being a housewife."

Midori just looked red.

"Seriously?"

"Well- n-no, I did think about o-other options a little," She said hastily, still apple-cheeked, "I've read some books on career orientation, and I think I might be suited to work in research. I do like reading and working with data."

"What kind of research?"

"Scientific research? Perhaps for psychiatry, or bio-engineering..."

Seiji grinned at her. "You'll be a mad scientist? Getting revenge on Makinoha's-" He suddenly bit his tongue, looking slightly flustered, before quickly saying, "Sorry, just got confused with a TV show."

"Okay?" She looked curiously at him for a moment, then giggled. "Maybe I will be a mad scientist. For food science, that is. Or maybe a teacher, at a kindergarten or elementary school."

He studied her for a moment, looking as though he was seeing her in a different light. "Yeah," he said after a moment, "I can see that. You'd be great with kids, really gentle."

"Maybe we could teach in the same school. You could do Physical Education," Midori suggested, and Seiji snorted.

"You know Shiori? Oh wait, of course you don't. One day, you'll meet Shiori, this little neighbourhood brat who proves that kids drive me crazy."

"Hmm. But I have a feeling that Seiji-kun is actually very good with children." Midori studied him in the same way he'd studied her. "I think they would warm up to you quickly, and like you a lot."

"Then maybe we really could be teachers together," Seiji laughed.

"I'm not sure I have the confidence to be very disciplinary, though," Midori admitted, and Seiji shrugged.

"I don't think we're supposed to really be that confident in anything yet. It's all stuff we learn after experience, right?"

"Yes, that's true. We still have some time to think about it." Midori leaned lightly against Seiji as they walked, tucking her arm more securely around the crook of his elbow. "The truth is, anything looks exciting to me, Seiji, so long as I'm with you."

In response, he slipped his hand down and webbed her fingers through his own, holding it snugly.

"Me too," he said quietly.

For a few minutes, they walked in companionable silence. They passed by a hot red-bean bun stall crowded with people, and he could tell by the glint in Midori's eyes that she wanted one, so they waited in the long line. He watched her focus on the menu, her usually calm face bright with concentration.

After Midori had started going to school again, there had been times Seiji felt the ache of longing when he was alone at home. With Midori on his hand, he had experienced an intimacy worth cherishing purely through bizarre circumstances caused by a lack of courage and faith on Midori's part. Now she had those things, and Seiji had the privilege of knowing what it was like to be with her all the time already, even if she couldn't remember.

But for now, their commitment to each other had to be based on a gradual building of solid foundations that could stand the test of time and tribulation. It had to be based on what was absolutely real, and nothing forced. Seiji felt he understood that now. So even when pangs of loneliness occasionally hit, he was still content with where they were at the moment. The emptiness had been filled with something bigger and deeper.

This weekend, though, they were finally going to spend some quality time together. Their mid-terms had just ended, and there was a lot they had planned for the weekend. Seiji was going to take Midori out on his sister's motorcycle, just for a short ride to a nature park. They were going to relax in the park a bit, and Midori would bring something home-made for them to lunch on. They might visit the aviary nearby, if they had time. It would be their first date away from the neighbourhood, not to mention Midori's first time on a motorcycle. But Seiji planned to bring her home in time for dinner, so her mother wouldn't worry her socks off.

There were a lot of firsts to go through, with Midori. They had gone through so much together in the past, but with the real Midori, redoing old memories one at a time was incredibly refreshing. And he was pretty sure that soon enough, they would experience things together that would be entirely new to the both of them.

"Midori," He said suddenly, as she bit into her steaming red-bean bun, "You're my first for a lot of things. I really look forward to our times together."

She glanced at him, surprised, then smiled shyly at him. "You've been my first for everything," she said happily, "And I want you to be my last, too."

He stared at her. She looked utterly unembarrassed for having said what she had; she continued to eat her bun like she hadn't just proposed to him.

"I'm sorry, did you want some?" It seemed she had misinterpreted the reason he was gawking at her. She held out her bun, beaming at him. "It's really good."

It occurred to Seiji that with moments like these, he would never be bored around her. As he leaned over to take a bite, he was filled with the blissful premonition that this was only one of the many, many days he would spend with Midori hereonout.

He knew for sure that Midori didn't have to be on his hand for him to know, through and through, that she was with him.

* * *

**OWARI**

* * *

Author's Notes: It's been exactly 7 years! I actually didn't plan this, but when I checked the dates I realised I was completing this fic exactly 7 years after I published. SEVEN YEARS! That's a crazy long time for a measly 20 chapter ordeal. Thank you for bearing with me for 7 years to finish this fanfic.

Midori no Hibi was an awesome read for me from beginnning to end, running not only on the bizarre but hilarious concept of having someone on your hand, but also on the wonderful strength of the main and supporting characters. There were many good things to learn from watching these characters grow, and I felt inspired to continue their story just a little bit further - especially since Midori and Seiji do not exactly get much screen time once they are finally a couple. Writing this fanfic really has been a learning experience for me as well. I hope it has been as fun a ride for you to read as it was for me to write. Thank you, dear readers! Keep up the Midori no Hibi fandom squeals! :)


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